Malcolm Wittels passed away Friday, September 19 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Born in St. Louis in 1927, Malcolm graduated University City High School and several years later entered his father’s commercial real estate business. In the decade following his father’s death in 1972, Malcolm reshaped the business into one focused on “rehabbing” residential neighborhoods of St. Louis, in particular the North Side.
His rehabs, with their distinctive “antiquing” touches, were easily identifiable around the city and much sought after. He helped many people buy their first homes and some of his current customers are children of people he sold to years ago. His passion was to buy houses that no one else saw potential in, and turn them into showcase homes. His houses were regularly featured on the “Affordable House Tour” sponsored by SLACO (St. Louis Association of Community Organizations) and several rehabs on Fountain Avenue received Preservation Awards from Landmarks Association of St. Louis.
In a letter to Malcolm’s family, U.S. Rep. Wm. Lacy Clay stated “Malcolm was an exceptional man who devoted himself to caring for his family and building up our community. His decades of investment and intensive efforts to rebuild struggling neighborhoods helped change blight into hope.”
He will be greatly missed by his wife Betty; his children Rhonda and Lawrence “Bud” (Lynn) Wittels; his step daughters Terri (Nate) Stone and Donna (Robert) Murray; his grandchildren Danny and Alison Wittels; his good friends Ilene Wittels and Alan Gerstein and many more friends and family members.