Alan Drey, founder of Alan Drey Co. and a key figure in the Chicago direct marketing scene for decades, died at age 79 on Aug. 22 — one year to the day of his company’s closing.
The popular list veteran died in his sleep that morning.
Although semi-retired, Drey had continued his interest in the business, and was present at a 50th anniversary party in Chicago two years ago.
Among his many honors was the 1987 Charles S. Downs Award, presented by the Chicago Association of Direct Marketing.
Born in New York and raised in Winnetka, IL, Drey enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1943 during World War II, and ended up commanding a B-24. He was shot down twice and awarded a Purple Heart and a Distinguished Flying Cross.
In 1948, he went to work for his uncle, list broker Walter Drey. Three years later, he opened a Chicago office of the Walter Drey Co.
That unit, growing in importance, became the Alan Drey Co. 10 years later. It started with four employees, according to JoAnne Fabian, a company officer and his personal secretary, who joined the firm that year.
The brokerage firm eventually added a management arm, and Drey also acquired Market Development Corp., a St. Louis compiling firm. He pioneered merge/purge with a product called System Dupli-Match, according to Pat Patten, the last president of Alan Drey Co.
Chicago DM legend Bob Stone, who served on Drey’s board for 15 years, said that the merge/purge development was “early in his career. He solved one of the biggest problems in direct mail, that of duplication. He was an innovator.”
Drey sold Market Development Corp. to Metromail in 1985.
Patten referred to Drey as “a charmer. He was a great motivator, and he knew how to work with people.”
Fabian said her opinion of Drey was evident in the fact that she “worked with him for 40-some-odd years. Everybody liked him.”
Drey had an interest in horse racing, and still owned more than 10 horses — including three active ones — at the time of his death, according to his daughter Ann Pirruccello.
Drey is survived by Pirruccello; by a son, Robert; and by a sister, Barbara Glazier.
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