Harold Engel, a veteran of the fashion jewelry industry, died of lung cancer on Friday, said his wife, Rhea. He was 76.
Engel started his career in 1950 at his uncle’s costume jewelry firm, Bergerè Jewelry, in New York. He worked there as a salesman until 1980, when the firm was sold.
That same year, the native New Yorker and his wife, who had moved to Atlanta, decided to open their own fashion jewelry firm called Rhea/Ad Lib Inc. The company produced jewelry and belts under the Rhea and Ad Lib brands, in addition to private label merchandise.
The husband-and-wife team closed their firm in 2004, when Engel was diagnosed with lung cancer.
“I don’t think there was anyone who didn’t like him,” said his wife of 55 years. “He had a fabulous sense of humor.”
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Engel is survived by two sons, Jeffrey and Rick; a daughter, Tracy Ulrich, and four grandchildren.
Donations in Engel’s honor are being received at Weinstein Hospice at 3150 Howell Mill Road NW in Atlanta.