Al Ferst

Albert Ferst

1919 – 2011

Albert Ferst, past president of Camfour, Inc. passed away Friday, December 16, 2011. Born in Westfield on May 16, 1919, Al graduated from Westfield High School in 1937 and was a US Army Veteran of WWII. He retired as president of Camfour Inc. in Westfield in 1998. Al Purchased Camfour in 1952 when it was a fishing and tackle company. He transformed Camfour into a firearms & ammunition distributor that launched the firearms industry into the age of technology with its original computer ordering software, PCGun.

As a well known philanthropist, some of this gifts to the City of Westfield he and his wife Amelia made were the Amelia Park Ice Arena and Skateboard Complex, Amelia Gardens, Westfield Boys and Girls Club Building Fund, the Greater Westfield Homeless Building, Westfield State Interfaith Center, several rooms at Noble Hospital, matching funds for the Westfield Children’s Museum, the Japanese Gardens at Stanley Park, and purchase of land at the Westfield Sportsman’s Club.