Bert Tonkin: 1926–2002
Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 1/1/2003
Bert Tonkin, of trade show producer Western Exhibitors Inc., passed away on November 23, 2002, after a 12-year battle with cancer. He was 76 years old. A native of Portland, Oregon, and a resident of the San Francisco area since 1953, Tonkin built Western Exhibitors into one of the major trade show companies in the U.S., with shows in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Denver, and Orlando.
Tonkin served in World War II as a radar operator on B-17s and B-29s. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 1949 and received an MBA from New York City College. He was a buyer for Brooklyn's Abraham and Straus department store before joining Western Exhibitors Trade Shows, which was founded by his aunt Kay Leber in Seattle in 1930. Bert also served briefly as the general manager of the San Francisco Mart, and helped found the Northern California Chapter of the International Association of Exposition Managers.
Deeply involved in many local business organizations, Jewish communities, and charities, Bert was honored by Gift for Life, the gift industry's AIDS fundraising organization, which recently created the "Bert Tonkin Gift of Giving Award" in his memory. Bert Tonkin is survived by his wife, Mary Ann; daughters Wendy Tonkin Breuner and Jill Tonkin Finegold; and six grandchildren.
