Leonard Lauder was remembered by family and friends on Thursday as a business tycoon, art collector, family man, mensch and debonair, devoted grandfather who appreciated axioms by FDR and Winnie the Pooh alike.
Lauder — who transformed his parents’ Estee Lauder brand into a global cosmetics powerhouse — died at age 92 on June 14. Family members said he told them he wanted to live to 100, but noted that his legendary name will live on well beyond any number.
Among the power players who packed Central Synagogue in Midtown to pay their last respects were: Sen. Susan Collins, Sen. Ed Markey, Donald, Jonathan and Steven Newhouse, Katie Couric, Jonathan and Lizzie Tisch, former Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren and current CEO Tony Spring, Steve Forbes, Saks CEO Marc Metrick, Architectural Digest editor Amy Astley, fashion pioneer Fern Mallis, current Estee Lauder CEO Stéphane de La Faverie and former CEO Fabrizio Freda, art collector Beth Rudin DeWoody, Whitney Museum director Scott Rothkopf and many more, including members of the Estee Lauder board.
The common thread throughout the moving ceremony among the speeches was how many people Lauder loved and mentored.
“His legacy is not only etched in buildings or brand names, but in the countless lives he touched… today we remember Leonard the chairman, the collector, the benefactor, and also Leonard the patriarch, the mensch,” said Rabbi Angela Buchdahl in her opening remarks.
Remembrances ranged from reverent to wry.
Lauder’s son, William Lauder, 65, pointed out that while Lauder touched so many lives, “my father made each and every one of us feel special. He was everyone’s family, everyone’s best friend and everyone’s confidante,” and he led, “an incomparable, iconic life… He illuminated every room he entered,” and, “cast his light onto others. In so many ways he was larger than life.”
He added, “Leonard Lauder the friend, and Leonard lauder the father were one in the same. He put people first, whether that was his family, friends, business partners or employees. And especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren whom he adored. My father never said I told you so, even when he earned that right, even when he was right.”
Speakers also included Lauder’s grandchildren, one of whom recalled how the mogul would tell the family kids imaginative bedtime tales, but that she noticed recently in a home video that he was once telling the mesmerizing stories in “full black tie,” noting that the story’s cliffhangers were breaks in the story so Lauder could leave the room and seamlessly make “important phone calls” and “million dollar deals” in between.
Apparently, Leonard still used a flip phone which he referred to as his “iPhone 18,” another family member said.
Son Gary Lauder, 63, recalled how his loving parents were once rejuvenating a Central Park playground and asked an “underutilized” research group — kids, in this case their own — their input, which led to some groundbreaking architecture that became an innovative standard in parks.
“I’m glad I’m wearing my Estee Lauder waterproof mascara,” tearfully said Gary’s wife, Laura.
Brother Ronald Lauder, 81, who’d been an exec at Estee Lauder as well as ambassador to Austria and onetime NYC mayoral hopeful, said that Leonard had been like another parent, as well as a sibling, to him and recalled crying when he left for the University of Pennsylvania because he missed Leonard so much.
He also recalled how Leonard spurred him on to create the family’s Clinique brand, to start NYC’s Neue Galerie museum, and other accomplishments.
He also told amusing tales, including a time their makeup maestro mom, Estée Lauder, was testing out some cream or other and put it in the fridge. Due to a mix-up, the stuff ended up in the family’s food.
When Ronald and Leonard asked their mom after they ingested the stuff, “Are we going to die?” their mom told them, “No, you’re not going to die. But your stomachs will be more beautiful.”
Lauder’s second wife, Judith Glickman Lauder, was the last family member to speak and made a brief, moving and tearful speech before Rabbi Buchdahl closed by singing “God Bless America.”
One absent family member who was also often remembered during the service was Evelyn Lauder, the Austrian-American businesswoman and socialite who was married to Leonard from 1959 until her death in 2011. Lauder and Glickman married in 2015.
There was a private burial and shiva after.
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