Charles Salomon, Riverside Memorial Chapel A Gift for Helping People in Dark Times Community Builder

It was 1963, and after college, Charles S. Salomon was considering law school. Instead, he decided to accept a job with family friend Morton Rosenthal, who owned the Upper West Side’s Riverside Memorial Chapel. “In the interest of family harmony, I said I’d give it six months, but from the minute I walked in, I fell in love with it.”

And he never left.

Salomon grew up on the Upper East Side, and has been President of Riverside since 1989. Initially, Salomon served two years of an obligatory apprenticeship, before passing the required state exams and attaining his funeral director’s license in 1965.

By 1969, Salomon was arranging funerals, and also became the official funeral director of Temple Emanu-El of the City of New York in June, 1970. When dealing with families planning these monumental life-cycle events, Salomon explains the key lesson learned over the years: “The best tool we have is sticking out of our heads—our ears,” Salomon says with a chuckle.

Salomon became the general manager at Riverside in 1974, and was elevated to vice president in 1981. Many of the grandest funerals held in recent years have been directed by Salomon, including this past September’s service for Joan Rivers. Other dignitaries whose funerals were led by Salomon include Mayors Abe Beame and Ed Koch, Senator Jacob Javitz, Leonard Bernstein, Marvin Hamlisch, and Jerry Orbach. Salomon, though, focuses on making sure all details are attended to and that the services run smoothly regardless of the deceased’s celebrity.

Riverside, then known as Meyers Livery Stable, was founded in 1897 on the Lower East Side’s Norfolk Street, where it supplied horse drawn carriages and coaches for funerals. Following some location and name changes, a four-story facility was built at the current West 76th street address in 1926. In 1933, the facility was re-named Riverside Memorial Chapel.

Over the years, Riverside has added New York locations in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, and Westchester, along with five based in South Florida.

James P. Torrellas is the General Manager at Riverside and has worked with Salomon for 32 years. “[Salomon] has been my mentor, but most importantly my friend. I can only hope that when my career at Riverside is over, my name can be mentioned alongside Charles Salomon. That name is synonymous with respect and with Riverside Memorial Chapel.”

Salomon’s 50th Anniversary with Riverside was celebrated in late 2013. One of the three pew chapels was re-named in his honor, the “Charles S. Salomon Chapel.” It came as a total surprise to a “bowled over,” Salomon, who explains: “coming from my peers, who are really my extended family…truly an indescribable honor.”

Salomon, 74, still works up to six days a week, but makes sure that every Friday, at minimum, he’s home with his wife of 42 years, and their 11-year old toy poodle. Is retirement an option? “We’re well past that… My life has meaning. I’m healthy. And I’m able to continue to contribute to society. As I always say, if you love what you’re doing, you never work a day in your life!”