Our People of the Century Leslie Kotok: Chance Stop at Vineland Proved Fruitful for Family

Bananas aren’t the usual stuff that dreams are made of. Yet the tropical fruit planted by Leslie Kotok’s grandfather David firmly put him in Vineland by giving him an alternative to the $4 he earned in an 80-hour week in the sweatshops of New York City.

The Russian immigrant and his 10-year old son, Myer, had carted two wagonloads of bananas from Philadelphia and briskly sold a load a day in Atlantic City. The trip over the dirt roads that connected the cities in 1902 was long and arduous – but profitable.

David Kotok made in one day what it took him a week to earn in New York.

Headed back for a third load, the pair stopped overnight in Williamstown, where someone suggested he try selling bananas in the new and growing city of Vineland.

That trip to Vineland resulted, in the next few decades, in Kotok produce markets in Vineland, Millville, and Bridgeton.

Les Kotok grew up surrounded by the fruits and vegetables of the Vineland market and managed the market before and after serving in the Navy during World War II.

In 1954, he sold the market and a variety of successful business ventures followed, including a Beltone Hearing Aid dealership.

Kotok died last March at the age of 80.

His volunteer work and his philanthropy are legendary. “There was not a charitable organization that he did not work for and support,” Murray Kohn, Rabbi Emeritus at Beth Israel Synagogue, said in March. “We have lost a giant.”

With his wife Shaye, Kotok organized Newcomb Hospital’s first fair to raise funds for an intensive care unit. When the Vineland library needed a new speaker system, the couple again went to work on a fair.

His community spirit and fund raising efforts touched virtually every local organization – Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Hospice, Red Cross, Heart Fund, March of Dimes, Multiple Sclerosis, Easter Seals, Tiny Tim and Allied Jewish Appeal.

The list continues – United Way, Exchange Club, Crime Stoppers, Masonic Lodge No. 202, Rotary, Beth Israel Men’s Club, YMCA, a tutor at the Vineland Adult Center, and more.

His enthusiasm was contagious.

“Les was supportive and encouraging, and before you even knew it, you were involved,” said Karol Foss, who worked with Kotok in the Friends of the Library.