The Markow Family Tree

Washingtonians Israel and Irvin Feld are among the the new owners of the greatest show on earth.

The marriage of Miss Shirley Helen Robinson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Robinson, 2912 Allendale road, and Mr. Israel S. Feld, of Petersburg, W. Va., son of Mrs. and Mrs. Issac Feld, 491 Queensberry avenue, will take place at 4 P.M. today at the bride's home. After a honeymoon in New York, Mr. Feld and his bride will live in Petersburg

Israel Feld, Co-Owner Of Ringling Bros. Circus Israel Feld, who with his brother Irvin was co-owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, died at his home in Washington, D.C., Friday after a heart attack. Feld, who was 61, was treasurer and executive vice president in charge of the circus headquarters in Washington. The Felds, in partnership with Roy Hoflieinz of Houston, purchased the circus five years ago and in 1969 doubled its size, creating two full-sized touring groups. Groundbreaking is scheduled next month for "Circus 'World," Ringling's 600-acre family entertainment center near Orlando. BORN THE sons of a Russian immigrant clothier in Whitmer, W.Va., the Felds moved as children with their family to the Washington suburb of Hagerstown, Md. The Feld brothers went to New York in the 1920s but returned to the Washington area in 1938 with an estimated $700 in savings that they had accrued from selling oils and liniments in carnivals. They began a series of enterprises all carrying the word "super" in their names. Their Super Cut-Rate Drugs eventually expanded into a 10-store chain. They operated but eventually sold a chain of Super Music City record stores in the Washington area. The Felds produced phonograph records for a time near the end of World War II, but scored their biggest successes through a talent booking agency called Super Attractions Inc. IN 1967 the Felds and Hofheinz became official owners of the "Greatest Show on Earth" in a transaction sealed at the entrance of the Coliseum in Rome. The purchase price was put "in excess of $10-mlllion." Before buying the circus, the Feld brothers had handled its booking in 20 major cities for more than a decade. While Irvin spent much of his time traveling throughout the world in search of new acts, Israel devoted his time and talents to co-ordinating the productions and keeping the show on the road, attending to day-to-day business matters. In 1971 a stock exchange joined the circus and the world's largest toymaker, Mattel Inc. PLAN'S WERE unveiled last summer for the gigantic circus city near Orlando, which will be in direct competition with Disney World in seeking tourist dollars. Israel Feld and his wife Shirley were frequent visitors to the circus' winter quarters at Venice. Their last visit was for the clown college graduation in mid-November. Irvin Feld and his son Kenneth were in Venice Friday when news of the death was received. They had attended a rehearsal Thursday night of the acts to be presented during the 1973 season of the red show in preparation for the filming of an NBC television special early next year in St. Petersburg. Services and burial are scheduled Sunday in Washington. Besides his brother and wife, survivors include Feld's mother, Mrs. Jennie Feld of Washington; and four sisters, Fannie Feld of Washington, Mrs. Freda Arenson of Sarasota, Mrs. Zelda Friebush and Mrs. Doris Goldstein of Silver Spring, Md.

Israel Samuel “Izzy” Feld BIRTH 21 Sep 1910 Whitmer, Randolph County, West Virginia, USA DEATH 15 Dec 1972 (aged 62) District of Columbia, USA BURIAL Adas Israel Cemetery Washington, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA