Cleveland’s Foremost Antiques Expert and ideastream Trustee Dies

Sunday, August 31, 2008
Topics: Arts, Economy
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Well-known Cleveland antiques expert and ideastream board member Ralph Kovel has died. Ideastream's Bill Rice has this remembrance.

Ralph Kovel was a successful businessman, most recently as President and CEO of U.S. Brands, a distribution company based in Beachwood.  He was also a former Vice President of Sara Lea Coffee and Tea.

But Kovel’s lifelong passion was antiques.  Together with his wife Terry, he authored a multitude of antiques buying and collecting guides dating back to the 1960s, as well as articles for major magazines and a weekly syndicated column that is still published today.  He also produced programs on antiques for public television, winning numerous awards for his work.  The first - the ten-part “Know Your Antiques” - was produced by ideastream’s WVIZ in 1969.  Kovel was also a regular on WVIZ’s annual auction, and joined the station’s board of trustees in 1994.  He died Thursday at Euclid General Hospital.