Posted on Wed, Jul. 25, 2012

For more than 50 years, Albert Joseph Freund designed and created clothing for men, women and children in a Hollywood manufacturing facility.

At its height, Suburban Knitting Mill, the family-owned business at 5801 Park Rd. employed around 75 people.

Freund, 87, died Sunday after a lingering illness.

He was born in Pittstown, N.J., on Jan. 16, 1925 to Joseph and Emily Freund. He got his business acumen from his father, who owned a textile business in Guttenberg, N.J.

As a young man, Freund grew up in the business. He later attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.

He and his wife, Muriel, married and the couple moved to South Florida with their three sons in 1957, and opened the textile mill in Hollywood where they designed and created sweaters, dresses and slacks. The business remained in the same spot until the family sold it in 2005.

At one point, the firm was running three shifts around the clock, said his son, Alan Freund, of Boca Raton.

“We did a lot of contract work for brand names around the country,’’ he said.

The business closed and most textile firms like Suburban Knitting Mill went out of business. The industry moved overseas, Alan Freund said.

Albert Freund, a longtime member of Plantation’s St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, was an avid amateur photographer who loved taking pictures of family and friends. He also loved bowling and deep-sea fishing for grouper and kingfish, his wife said.

He is survived by his wife Muriel of Plantation, sons, Alan of Boca Raton, Bruce of Pompano Beach and Mark of Tallahassee.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at T.M. Ralph Funeral Home, 7001 NW Fourth St., Plantation. A funeral Mass will be at 6 p.m. Thursday at St. Benedict’s, 7801 NW Fifth St., Plantation.

Instead of flowers, the family encourages donations in Albert Freund’s name to the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, 200 South Park Rd., #100, Hollywood, FL 33021.