OBITUARIES
1930S Raymond R. Herrmann ’38 died at his home in New York City on August 21, 2021, just weeks before his 101st birthday. Ray was born on September 11, 1920, in Louisville, KY. He was a 1942 graduate of Princeton University. Ray unquestionably enjoyed one of the most respected, distinguished and accomplished careers in the beverage alcohol industry. Ray's family ties to the industry began with his grandfather, who settled in Louisville, KY in the late 1800s and founded a wine and spirits importing company, later forming Herrmann Brothers Distillery in Bardstown in 1880. Ray began his own iconic career as a liquor salesman in New York's distribution tier after honorably serving in the United States Army, 191 Field Artillery Group in the South Pacific
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Theatre from 1943 to 1946. He went on to hold various roles with Schieffelin Company and National Distillers Products Company before being recruited in 1973 by McKesson Corp. After becoming Vice Chairman at McKesson in 1984, in 1988 Ray led an acquisition of McKesson's wine and spirits businesses, forming a four-state distribution company known as Sunbelt Beverage Corporation. In 1994, Ray formed a formidable partnership with the late industry legend Herman I. Merinoff, joining forces to form The Charmer Sunbelt Group. In 2016, Charmer Sunbelt merged with Wirtz Beverage to form Breakthru Beverage, today the third-largest spirits and wine wholesaler in the U.S. Ray continued to proudly serve as Chairman Emeritus of Breakthru Beverage until his death, completing a legendary devotion to the wine and spirits industry that spanned more than five decades. Ray's professional leadership included extensive industry
positions. He served as both Director and Chairman of the National Association of Beverage Importers from 1973 to 1985, and as a Director and executive committee member of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) from 1973 to 1986. Ray proudly served on the Wine and Spirits Wholesale Association's Board of Directors for more than three decades, receiving the WSWA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010. Ray was a brilliant, tenacious and determined businessman. His love for the industry and its participants was perhaps best exemplified by his mentoring of the many wine and spirits industry members who have themselves become icons today. Ray is survived by his loving wife of 45 years, Mariana Herrmann, his daughter, Laura Nicholson, his grandson, Christian KaiNielsen, and his dog, Pancho II. Ray was predeceased in death by his sons, Mark Herrmann and Michael Herrmann.
Art by Marisa Triola ’21
POLY PREP COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
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