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LICF Mourns the Loss of Immediate Past Chair Abraham Krasnoff

February 05, 2007

The advisory board and staff of the Long Island Community Foundation mourn the loss of Abraham Krasnoff, immediate past chairman of the LICF advisory board, generous donor, wise, compassionate, and strategic sage, and dear friend. Abe Krasnoff opened the Krasnoff Family Fund in the LICF in 1985 while he was still CEO of the Pall Corporation, which he helped found with David Pall. In the Fall 1992 LICF newsletter, he wrote a column called “Why I Give Through the LICF.” In that column, Abe explained that he learned about giving from his father. “He said that we should pay back this glorious country which has been so good to us.” While he was still actively involved at the Pall Corporation and even more so after his retirement, Abe Krasnoff gave back, with generous contributions to a wide array of charities and with his time, concern, and counsel. He even opened a philanthropic fund as a 16th birthday present for each of his two older granddaughters so that they, too, would inherit this essential Krasnoff family legacy.

Abe Krasnoff was elected to the LICF advisory board in 1995, and became its chairman in 2002. His leadership brought the LICF into one of its most dynamic periods. Without Abe Krasnoff, ERASE Racism would not have been launched. Abe guided the LICF advisory board through the minefield of undertaking this bold, new initiative to address the racial inequities that continue to plague African Americans and people of color on Long Island. His personal and financial support for ERASE Racism while it incubated at the LICF continued after ERASE Racism became an independent nonprofit organization. He was deeply proud to receive the Courage and Commitment award from ERASE Racism in June 2006, an award that has since been named in his honor: the Abraham Krasnoff Courage and Commitment Award.

Abe was an extraordinary philanthropist, distributing millions of dollars to nonprofit organizations both on and off Long Island through a fund in the LICF as well as directly. His generosity cannot be measured solely through these gifts. So many organizations on Long Island have been nurtured by this enlightened, caring, wise man. We join his wife, Julienne, his family, and the many organizations he supported in appreciation of his contributions to Long Island, its people, and its future.

A memorial service was held on Tuesday, February 6th, at the Long Island University Chapel.