Thursday, October 12 2006
Richmond, VA - General Cigar Co. Inc. regrets to report that Alfons Mayer, age 79, died peacefully after a brief illness.
Alfons spent 46 years in the tobacco industry, having worked for General Cigar from 1961 until his retirement from the company in 2001. With an unmatched love for tobacco, Alfons spent five years learning about tobacco in Cuba in the 1950s before managing General Cigar's warehouse there. He went on to oversee the company's sorting and processing operations in Puerto Rico and later relocated to the New York area where he acted as the company's chief tobacco buyer until his retirement.
"I was fortunate to have met Alfons in 1978 as my career in the tobacco industry was still in its beginnings," said Daniel Nuñez, president and chief operating officer of General Cigar. "I was lucky to have been able to work with him because the knowledge he shared helped to give my career a solid foundation. Whatever I am today, I am because I built upon what I learned from Alfons. For him, tobacco was everything."
"Alfons was a legend," said Edgar M. Cullman Sr., former chairman of General Cigar. "His knowledge of tobacco was unmatched. He loved to buy tobacco, he loved to feel tobacco, he loved to smoke tobacco, he was 'Mr. Tobacco.' We all learned from him and we all were better cigar people because of his knowledge. The great thing about Alfons was that he knew tobaccos from all over the world and was able to use those tobaccos in the blends that reflected the many tastes of smokers. He was the complete tobacco man."
To honor Alfons for his contributions to the company, General Cigar began making a cigar in his name in 2003. The cigars which were developed to Alfons' specifications are still available at fine tobacconists in the U.S. and are a featured item on the cigar menu at Club Macanudo, a place where Alfons could often be seen enjoying cigars and the company of cigar smokers.
Alfons is survived by six children and 15 grandchildren. His wife Sara predeceased him in 1999.
A memorial service will be held at a later date, which the Mayer family will announce once the information is available.
