Alfred Dreyfus, who founded ECPI University in Hampton Roads, lived for a century.
He died on Oct. 4 , just four years after retiring from ECPI’s board in 2020, his family said.
In his 100 years, Sam Dreyfus, ECPI’s vice president of strategic initiatives, said his grandfather lived almost three different lives.
Alfred Dreyfus immigrated to the U.S. at age 24 in 1947. He arrived in New York City alone, unable to speak English and carrying one suitcase with $14 in his pocket. He worked as an electrical technician, fixing radios, but saw that his employer struggled to find skilled technicians.
That’s what led Dreyfus to start ECPI in Norfolk when he came to Hampton Roads in 1966 . Originally named Electronic Computer Programming Institute and later renamed East Coast Polytechnic Institute , its administrative headquarters relocated to Virginia Beach in 1987.
A voracious reader who was interested in technology, Dreyfus had the foresight that computers would change the world . He saw the opportunity to share those skills with others, and that’s what led him to purchase a curriculum and start a school originally focused on computer programming.
“He really built that from nothing, and he felt that teaching people these skills is the biggest mitzvah you can do,” Sam Dreyfus said, referring to the Jewish faith’s call to perform good deeds.
In the 58 years since its founding, ECPI has grown to include 18 campuses throughout Virginia, North and South Carolina, Florida, Texas and online.
About 100,000 graduates earned degrees — associate, bachelor’s and master’s in technology, nursing, health sciences, business, criminal justice and culinary arts — from the private institution that offers adult learners a hands-on accelerated approach to learning skills.
While son Mark Dreyfus, ECPI University president, said he never intended on working at the school, he became fascinated with it and he too got hooked on the idea of being able to do good for people.
He said his father possessed a silliness about him, but also was a refined man who loved classical music and always dressed in a suit and tie.
“He was a great man and a very hardworking man who really exemplified the American dream,” said Brett Levi, a grandson who resides in New York City.
Born in Rastatt, Germany, on Dec. 11, 1923, Alfred Dreyfus was the son of an affluent factory owner. He shared his life’s story in a 1997 interview with the Shoah Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving testimonies of Holocaust survivors. Before Adolf Hitler rose to power, Dreyfus said his family had “a very nice life.”
“That stopped,” he said.
As the growing fury of antisemitism swept across the country, Dreyfus’ parents opted to flee for France in 1933 — several years prior to the start of World War II.
The Dreyfus family, which included two younger brothers, spent years — from 1933 to 1942 — on the run. When authorities began deporting Jews in France to Nazi extermination camps, they evaded the Gestapo, acquired false identification papers and fled by foot over the Chablais Alps to Switzerland.
They received refugee asylum, but were placed into separate labor camps. Dreyfus built roads and bridges for several years.
After the war, Dreyfus studied radio electricity near Zurich through the Organization for Rehabilitation through Training, a global Jewish education network that provides vocational training.
Robbed of his childhood and education due to the horrors cast upon the Jewish people, Dreyfus went on to be the catalyst for so many to gain their higher educations.
For decades, Dreyfus shared his story at schools, temples and community events with family and strangers. His story is documented along with the lives of other local Holocaust survivors through the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s Holocaust Commission’s “ What We Carry ” project.
Levi stressed the importance of continuing to share the stories of Holocaust survivors, especially as the last ones pass away.
In spite of the extreme difficulties Dreyfus lived through, his family stressed that he was never a bitter man.
“He always had a pleasant demeanor and was always looking for the good in people,” Mark Dreyfus said.
“At the end of the day, he was one of the lucky ones,” Sam Dreyfus said. “I hope his memory can inspire others to live righteously.”
Alfred Dreyfus was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred, of 70 years. He leaves behind his daughter, Claudia Dreyfus; son, Mark Dreyfus; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@pilotonline.com
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