Roy Robert “Rob” Schechter Jr., a Miami realtor and member of an established philanthropic South Florida family, died last week of a rare form of thyroid cancer. He was 60.

Schechter was part of the Wolfson-Meyer family that opened Miami’s first television station and founded the Wolfsonian-Florida International Museum, of which he was an emeritus board member.

He also served as a board member of The Cushman School, the renowned Miami private school.

“If you met him, he was kind-hearted, someone who loved his family and was extremely proud of his heritage and was a big supporter of the arts and education,” said his wife, Catherine “Terry” Schechter.

Schechter was born Feb. 18, 1952 in Miami, a third-generation Floridian.

His grandfather, Sidney Meyer, was married to Zenia Wolfson, the sister of Col. Mitchell Wolfson. The two brothers-in-law founded the Wolfson Meyer Theater Co., which would later become an empire of movie houses, vending machines, bottling plants and TV stations known as Wometco.

In 1949, the company started WTVJ, the first television station south of Atlanta, inside a backroom at the Capitol, Wometco’s first theater.

Schechter’s mother, Barbara Meyer, married Roy Schecher, a businessman and avid car racer. His father instilled a lifelong devotion to speed on wheels. As an adult, Rob Schechter loved buying and rebuilding sports cars, especially Porsches.

The younger Schechter attended Miami Country Day School followed by studying at Franklin College in Lugano, Switzerland, where he met his future wife, then a classmate.

He returned home to Miami, where he went into high-end real estate, most recently as a realtor with EWM Realty. Schechter was also a huge animal lover and owned four poodles over the years: Shah, Alexander the Great, Maxwell and Winston.

He is survived by his father, his wife, son George, daughter Nicole and son-in-law Adam Darnell, and his aunt Patricia Papper, all of Miami.

Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday at Temple Israel of Greater Miami, 137 NE 19th St., in Miami.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks for memorial contributions to either the Rob Schechter Fund, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Sylvester Development Office, P.O. Box 016960 (M-867) Miami, FL 33101 or The Rob Schechter Memorial Fund, Knowles Animal Clinic, 1000 NW 27th Avenue, Miami, FL 33125.