Alan Drey, founder of Alan Drey Co. and a key figure in the Chicago direct marketing scene for decades, has died at 79—one year to the day of his company's closing.
The popular list veteran died in his sleep early Friday morning in the Chicago area.
Although semi-retired, Drey had continued his interest in the business, and was present at a 50th anniversary party in Chicago two years ago.
Among his many honors was the 1987 Charles S. Downs Award, presented by the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing.
Born in New York and raised in Winnetka, IL, Drey enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943, and ended up commanding a B-24. He was shot down twice and awarded a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross.
In 1948, he went to work for his uncle, list broker Walter Drey. Three years later, he opened a Chicago office of the Walter Drey Co.
That unit, growing in importance, became the Alan Drey Co. 10 years later, starting with four employees, according to JoAnne Fabian, a company officer and his personal secretary, who joined the firm that year.
The brokerage firm eventually added a management arm, and Drey also acquired Market Development Corp., a St. Louis compiling firm. He pioneered merge purge with a product called System Dupli-Match, according to Pat Patten, the last president of Alan Drey Co. He sold Market Development Corp. to Metromail in 1985.
Drey was active in horse racing, and still owned over ten horses, including three active ones, at the time of his death, according to his daughter Ann Pirruccello.
Patten referred to Drey as "a charmer. He was a great motivator, and he knew how to work with people."
Fabian said her opinion of Drey was evident in the fact that she "worked with him for 40 some odd years. Everybody liked him."
Drey is survived by Pirruccello; by a son, Robert; and by a sister, Barbara Glazier.
Funeral arrangements had not been announced at deadline.
