VIRGINIA BEACH – Alfred Dreyfus, 100, peacefully passed away on October 4.
He was born in Rastatt, Germany on December 11, 1923, to Emmy (née Lieblich) and Manfred Dreyfus. From his father, an industrialist and World War I veteran, Alfred inherited a passion for technology and business and an indefatigable resilience. From his mother, daughter and granddaughter of prominent kosher hoteliers in Baden-Baden, Alfred acquired an appreciation for high culture and the natural world. From both his parents, Alfred absorbed fierce loyalty to family, profound attachment to the ideas and traditions of Judaism, and a sense of responsibility to do good in the world.
Alfred’s happy childhood ended abruptly when virulent antisemitism drove his family from Germany to France in 1933. Several years later, with the outbreak of World War II, the Dreyfus family again became refugees with Alfred’s father imprisoned and Alfred, his mother, and two brothers fleeing their homes, German bombs flying overhead, for the safety of southern France.
By 1942, that place of refuge again turned dangerous as the French authorities began deporting local Jews to Nazi extermination camps. For a while, a local farmer agreed to hide Alfred and his family in his barn. The farmer later decided he could not face the risk of being discovered. The Dreyfus family embarked on a clandestine passage using false identification papers through southern France to reach the Swiss border where they might escape and find refuge.
On trains and at roadside checkpoints, the family narrowly evaded the Gestapo as they watched other Jewish families arrested. Reaching Lake Geneva, the Dreyfus family found the Swiss border tightly sealed with police boats patrolling to prevent refugee. Jews from entering the country. They decided to attempt the more dangerous and physically demanding escape over the Chablais Alps by foot to reach Switzerland. The family crossed the border and eventually received refugee asylum. But the Swiss authorities separated the family into different labor camps; Alfred built roads and bridges near Lugano for several years until the end of World War II.
Later, Alfred studied radio-electricity in Switzerland through the Jewish organization ORT. This training fueled a lifelong interest in electronics and computers.
Alfred immigrated to the United States in 1947, arriving alone in New York City with one suitcase and a few dollars in his pocket. Although he never graduated high school nor attended university because of the war, he used his technical knowledge and survival instincts to find work and carve out a life for himself.
In 1950, he met Mildred Scherb at a singles dance. Alfred and Mildred married in 1951, and they were soon blessed with children, Claudia and Mark. The family moved frequently because of Alfred’s work: from Queens, N.Y. to Schenectady, N.Y. to Stratford, Conn. and finally to Norfolk, Va. in 1966. There, Alfred founded ECPI (Electronic Computer Programming Institute), a pioneering technical college offering adult learners hands-on, skill-based computer training to allow graduates to enter the workforce quickly.
From the first class of eight students, the school later moved to Virginia Beach. Over the next 50 years, the school transformed into ECPI University, accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associates, bachelors, and master’s degrees. The university expanded to 18 campuses across Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas, and online.
Today the University matriculates 10,000 students in the areas of nursing, health sciences, technology, business, and culinary arts. Alfred believed in the transformative power of applied education deeply; ECPI graduations were highlights of Alfred’s year, occasions when he could look on with pride at the accomplishments of hard-working students taking control of their own destinies.
He also marveled at the opportunity to help veterans and the military community as a way to thank them for their service and the sacrifices made during World War II, which saved his family.
Alfred’s life was beset by challenges; World War II disrupted his childhood and teenage years. His close relatives died in concentration camps. For decades, Alfred spoke about his wartime experiences at schools, synagogues, and community gatherings, to his grandchildren and to strangers in the grocery store. He was devoted to passing on the story of the Holocaust to younger generations and wide audiences. He would tear up with gratitude recalling the miracles he experienced allowing him to survive.
Alfred was a devoted family man; a generous benefactor to many community causes and private individuals in need and a proud American who had experienced barbarism in Europe and knew first-hand the value of American freedom and the American dream.
Alfred Dreyfus was predeceased by Mildred, his beloved wife of almost 70 years. He was also preceded in death by his younger brothers, Henry Dreyfus and Roger Dreyfus. He is survived by his daughter Claudia Dreyfus and son Mark Dreyfus; grandchildren Brett and Marisa Levi and Sam, Max, and Sophia Dreyfus; and great-grandchildren Joshua, Evan, and Natalie Staines and Judah Levi-Miran. Alfred is also survived by his sister-in-law Anny Dreyfus, nephew Philippe Dreyfus, and many other cousins around the world.