Walter Rothschild Dies

Walter Rothschild Jr., who was president of the Abraham & Straus department store chain for nine years until retiring abruptly in 1969, died Friday in New York. He was 83.

Rothschild, the great-grandson of company co-founder Abraham Abraham, announced his resignation by saying he wanted to pursue a civic career. He became chairman of the New York Urban Coalition, then chairman of the National Urban Coalition.

Rothschild represented the fourth generation of his family to serve as the company's president. Once 18 stores strong across the New York metropolitan area, the A&S name was eliminated in 1995 by parent company Federated Department Stores (Cincinnati), its stores converted into Macy's and Stern's units.