SocialMiami Remembers: Laurans Mendelson
Mendelson was entirely devoted to his family, which was his greatest pride, and strongly believed in supporting others with philanthropy-in South Florida and elsewhere.
Laurans (“Larry”) Adam Mendelson passed away surrounded by his family on September 27, 2025 in Miami Florida. He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Arlene, his sons Eric (Kim) Mendelson, Victor (Lisa) Mendelson, grandchildren Alexander Mendelson, Daniel Mendelson, David Mendelson, Hayley (Colm) Smith, Lindsey (Ryan) Pearson and Nicole Mendelson, as well as great grandson Luke Smith.
The son of the late Samuel and Blanche Mendelson of NY, NY, Larry grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, attending public schools, including the prestigious Brooklyn Technical High School, from which he graduated, before attending Columbia University on a Regent’s Scholarship. Mr. Mendelson went on to receive his AB from Columbia College in 1960 and his MBA from Columbia Business School in 1961. Following his education, he was proud to serve in the US Army and the US Army Reserves.
It was in NY, NY that he met the love of his life, a fellow Westside-er named Arlene Hope Lobel, whom he married 12 months later in September 1962. The two enjoyed a remarkably close and loving relationship and were married for 63 years. They were inseparable, relishing their growing family, life in South Florida, art collecting, travel and philanthropy.
He was entirely devoted to his family, which was his greatest pride. Believing family supreme, he was very proud to have fostered in his sons an intense interest in business and to have worked with them in his businesses from the time they were young children. He viewed this as an opportunity to expand family time, not merely a vocational prospect.
Although he lived with and instilled tenacity in his sons and grandchildren, his deep compassion and unabashed affection for those around him left a lasting impact on the remarkable family that he and Arlene created.
Being a consummate entrepreneur, he saw opportunity where others saw only risk. After beginning as a CPA at Arthur Andersen in NYC, he started his own Wall Street business helping to bring small companies with great potential public and founded a publicly-held pollution control company, which he later sold.
He and Arlene moved to Miami as Florida’s explosive growth was commencing with their two sons, Eric and Victor, in early 1969, where the family has since resided- first in Unincorporated Dade County for 24 years, then in the City of Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood for the past 32 years.
In Miami, he founded a publicly-held company, which he later sold, that acquired small industrial and real estate businesses. In 1972, he entered the real estate development industry with his late business partner, Jerry A. Gross. Together, the two developed condominiums, apartments, shopping centers and hotels around Florida, eventually becoming the largest condominium converters in the state, as well as major investors in large publicly-held industrial companies where they practiced what later became known as “activist investing.” Mr. Gross passed in 1988. Mr. Mendelson remained active in Florida real estate with his family until his passing.
He left an indelible impact on Miami, where his re-zoning of the Brickell Avenue and Downtown Miami corridor in 1982 resulted in Miami’s significant skyline visible today. Working with Mr. Gross and famed local lawyers Robert “Bob” Traurig (co-founder of the Greenberg Traurig law firm) and Dan Paul, Mr. Mendelson successfully petitioned the Miami City Commission to increase the size of building development by six times what it had been, allowing substantial skyscrapers to appear and make Miami a viable international business destination and unlocking vast real estate-related government revenue for the area.
Mr. Mendelson’s greatest professional success was his involvement in NYSE-traded HEICO Corporation, where he was one of America’s longest-serving CEOs, having the role for nearly 35 years, and more recently as Executive Chairman. Mr. Mendelson and his sons became the company’s largest shareholders and took over management in 1990, when HEICO was a small, troubled aviation company with $26 million in net revenues and a similar market capitalization. They had no background in aviation, manufacturing or engineering.
Together the three worked with extraordinarily talented people to build one of the largest US-based, but global, aerospace and defense companies, designing and manufacturing tens of thousands of aerospace and defense components found on nearly every commercial airliner currently in use, along with nearly every defense and space platforms used by the United States and its allies. Today, HEICO has a market capitalization of $39 billion and annual revenue nearing $4.5 billion, generating significant cash flow from operations, while employing over 11,000 people worldwide. $100,000 invested in HEICO shares at the time Mr. Mendelson and his sons took over HEICO’s management became worth over $130 million today, representing a compound annual growth rate of nearly 23%. HEICO has grown to operate in 164 facilities in 15 countries and 29 states in the United States. Thousands of investors and HEICO Team Members credit their family’s financial wellbeing and security to their HEICO investments.
Larry and Arlene strongly believed in supporting others with philanthropy-in South Florida and elsewhere. He was on the Board of Directors of Miami Beach’s Mt. Sinai Medical Center for over 30 years, where he served as Chairman of the Board, among other positions. He served as a Trustee of Columbia University in the City of New York after serving on Columbia College’s Board of Visitors for a decade.
In addition to supporting Mt. Sinai and Columbia, where they established two professorships and a scholarship fund to support students from Florida before endowing the University’s Mendelson Center for Undergraduate Business Studies with his sons and daughters-in-law, he and Arlene have for decades financially supported numerous organizations, such as AIPAC, American Jewish Committee, Baptist Health South Florida, Florida Grand Opera, Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Miami’s Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami’s Perez Art Museum, Ransom-Everglades School, South Florida PBS, United Way of Miami-Dade and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Along the way, Mr. Mendelson was named a Chevalier in France’s Legion d’honneur, and was recognized for his philanthropic and business activities with the Living Legend of Aviation Award, the Howard Hughes Memorial Award, Greater Miami Aviation Association’s Wright Brothers Memorial Award, the Ernst & Young Florida Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the John Jay Award from Columbia College, as well as being named to the International Air and Space Hall of Fame, while receiving the Stars of Arts & Culture Award from South Florida PBS with Arlene and the American Jewish Committee Miami Human Relations Award, the HistoryMiami Henry Flagler Award and the Toqueville Award for Outstanding Philanthropy from the United Way of Miami-Dade with his family.
This piece was provided by Lisa Mendelson and republished with permission.
