Albert Sternberg: He sold fruit, vegetables all over town, and many awaited him on his rounds

"For 30 years, he's been in and out of the salons I've owned," said Sheila Dodge-Harrison, owner of Transitions Hair Studio on East Broadway near Kolb Road. "He was a cranky little guy. I never knew what kind of deal I'd get from him.

"Every week he brought his tomatoes. I'm not a big fan of tomatoes, but I had to buy them," Dodge-Harrison said. Otherwise she'd get the cold shoulder from Sternberg.

"He was cantankerous," she said, but also generous and congenial.

"We loved him. There's never going to be anyone like him. He had the best produce in town," she said. "If he had extras he'd just give you things."

Sternberg, 83, died Jan. 1 of pancreatic cancer. His family held a service for him Wednesday, memorializing his sense of humor, colorful advice and savvy salesmanship.

Two of his sons — Ron and Brian, owners of Tucson-based wholesaler Ron's Produce — and Sternberg's other children and grandchildren, all sold fruits and vegetables with him at one time or another. Six of his grandsons work in the produce business.

"My father was always excited to get up in the morning and share produce and conversation," Ron Sternberg said. "My father was a huckster. He used to peddle produce all over Tucson."

"He was a little like an icon," said Marge Yordani, an employee at Carol-Lyn Hair Designs in the 2800 block of North Country Club Road. "He's been coming here for years and years and years. He'd come in and have coffee and (say), 'Do I have a deal for you.' "

Sternberg's sales route took him to hair salons and barbershops, bowling alleys and bingo halls, bars and lodge halls.

On Sundays and Tuesdays, he sold produce during bingo games at the Elks Lodge No. 2532 in the 600 block of South Pantano Road.

"If he would miss a day, everybody would be looking for him," said lodge member Greg Drezdon. "Our bingo group, all the elderly ladies … just loved him and he used to come in and kibitz with them. He was a character, no doubt about it."

One of Sternberg's 11 grandchildren, Rabbi Russell Barkan described his grandfather as "a very intense salesman." It was a trait honed from early childhood, when he helped his father sell produce from a horse cart.

"When he was a kid in Brooklyn, he would go out with his father on a wagon. They'd rent a horse, and sometimes he'd carry sacks of potatoes up five flights of stairs," grandson Sam Sternberg said.

When Albert Sternberg was discharged in 1947 after four years in the Marine Corps, he went into the produce business with his father. In 1961, he moved his family to Tucson and continued to sell produce.

"My father was a Depression baby, and he went hungry, so he had a great appreciation for food, for fruits and vegetables," Ron Sternberg said.

Albert Sternberg passed on his belief in hard work to his children.

"When we were young kids, my father would give us a few boxes of tomatoes and we'd take them around the neighborhood in a little red wagon," Ron Sternberg said.

After the Sternberg brothers established Ron's Produce in 1975, their father continued to drive his route, visiting his regular customers. He continued to sell produce until he was 82. It was hard, his family said, for him to give up the deal-making and camaraderie that came with the job.

"The people of Tucson, all the friends and neighbors who did business with him, we appreciate the friendship they gave him," said his son, Craig Sternberg.

"Tucson was good to my grandfather," Sam Sternberg said, "and my grandfather was good to Tucson."

On StarNet: The "Life Stories" series of articles will be kept online at go.azstarnet.com/lifestories

Life Stories

This new feature chronicles the lives of Tucsonans. Some were well-known across the community. Others had an impact on a smaller sphere of friends, family and acquaintances. Many of these people led interesting — and sometimes extraordinary — lives with little or no fanfare. Now you'll hear their stories.