Herbert Ment, 96

An engineer who helped build landmark buildings and designed and built his own house, Bronx native Herbert Ment was a first generation American who went to college, fought in World War II and had varied interests from botany to traveling.

Ment, a longtime Five Towner, who lived in Lawrence, Woodmere, Hewlett Neck and Boca Raton, died on July 15. He was 96.

Born Aug. 25, 1923, he was the son of Dora and Louis Ment who came to the United States from Russia in 1913. He played baseball with his many cousins, one of which Ment recently reconnected with, family members said. The family moved to Lawrence in 1937.

He headed south for college and studied civil engineering at The Citadel, a military college in Charleston, South Carolina. Later, Ment earned graduate certifications in meteorology at both New York University and the University of Chicago.   

In 1942, he enlisted in World War II and served as an officer in the 1252nd unit of the Army Air Force. He was stationed in Tripoli, Libya and Casablanca, Morocco. Ment earned the American Campaign, European African Middle Eastern Campaign and WWII Victory medals. Six months after returning home, he married Rhoda Greenberg in Brooklyn in December 1946.     

“Herb was a kind and honorable man; he loved his family dearly and took significant pride in each of their accomplishments,” Rhoda said.  

As an engineer, Ment was instrumental in the construction of many significant landmarks across the U.S., including two of his favorites his family noted: the Seagram Building in New York and the Sears Tower in Chicago. He worked in the family business, Ment Bros Iron Works, founded by his father and uncles in 1930. After 46 years, Herb stepped down as president and chief executive officer in 1992. 

The Ment family built four homes on adjoining lots on Addison and Bryant streets in Woodmere for the family to live close by, which they did from 1948 to 1960.

Family members said that one of his proudest accomplishments was a personal one. He designed and built a glass, aluminum and steel home on Hewlett Neck Road in Woodmere. The very modern design was floor-to-ceiling glass with a folded panel roof. It has stood apart from its neighborhood since it was built in 1960, family members said.

It took two years to build, because Herb and Rhoda built half of it themselves. It was at Hewlett Neck that Herb and Rhoda raised their sons, Bobby, John and Randy, all three were enlisted to help in the construction.   

He was an avid botanist, a collector, a lover of jazz, modernism, the ocean, travel, golf as a member of the Seawane Country Club, and the city he called home — New York. Ment was also philanthropic serving as board chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, chair of the organization’s Adult Education Committee, a board member and was named the UJA’s Man of the Year in 1964.

Ment was also a board member of the Anti-Defamation League and involved with Five Towns Community Chest (now Community Chest South Shore). Members of Temple Israel, the family donated a large street staircase in memory of Ment’s oldest son, Dr. M. Robert Ment. Herb also helped raised money for many renovations and expansions of Hewlett High School, where all three sons graduated, family members said.

“Papa was a kind, generous, charitable, and hardworking man,” said Ment’s eldest grandchild,  Benjamin Louis Ment. “Instead of missing him, I’ll do my best to follow his lead.”

Predeceased by his parents Louis and Dora Ment; sister Beatrice Goodwin, eldest son Dr. M. Robert Ment; and daughter-in-law Gail Urbas Ment. He is survived by his cherished wife of 73 year Rhoda Ment, sons John (Beth Shulman) and Randall Ment and his adoring grandchildren Benjamin (Samantha) Ment, Jacob (Eléonore Weill) Shulman-Ment, Zachary (Emily) Ment, Maya Shulman-Ment, Jazmin Ment, & Gabrielle Ment. 

Ment was interred at Beth Moses Cemetery in West Babylon. Contributions in his memory can be made to the UJA-Federation of New York.