Growing up near Coney Island in the 1930s, Gerard L. Cafesjian developed an affection for merry-go-rounds.
So much so that when the Minnesota State Fair carousel was put up for sale more than a half-century later, the West Publishing Co. executive donated more than a half-million dollars to help keep it from being dismantled and sold.
"I believe something special happens on a merry-go-round," Cafesjian told the Star Tribune in 1990 after being identified as the secret benefactor behind a 16-month campaign to save the carousel. "The music, the magic and the movement combine to create a one-of-a-kind personal experience. When we preserve the carousel we also preserve that joy and hope — that happiness — for the entire community for years to come."
Cafesjian, formerly of Roseville, was living in Naples, Fla., at the time of his death Sept. 15. He was 88.
The son of Armenian immigrants, Cafesjian was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up hopping the subway to Coney Island, where he'd pay a nickel to ride on the merry-go-round.
After graduating from high school, he joined the U.S. Navy, served in the South Pacific during World War II, then took advantage of the G.I. Bill to earn an economics degree from Hunter College and a law degree from St. John's University.
He practiced law in New York for several years, then joined the editorial staff of West Publishing Co. in New York City before moving to the company's headquarters in St. Paul in 1960.
Over three-and-a-half decades, he rose through the company ranks, eventually becoming executive vice president in charge of marketing and advertising.
