Joseph von Zwehl of Muttontown, dead at 76

When Christopher von Zwehl was a boy he got his mouth washed out with soap and his behind smacked. His father was that kind of disciplinarian.

But the son is the first to tell you his father's methods provided tough lessons and tender memories.

"My father was my idol, my mentor," Christopher von Zwehl, 49, of Huntington said Monday. "He instilled core values . . . work ethic and respect, and those stay with me today.

"If my brothers and sisters and I had to be disciplined that way, we probably deserved it."

Later in life, Joseph von Zwehl softened, his son said. He had six children to raise and a company to run. "Maybe we just all wore him out," Christopher von Zwehl said, chuckling.

Joseph von Zwehl, of Muttontown, died Jan. 28 of a stroke at Syosset Hospital, family said. He was 76 and lived much of his life in Port Washington and Sands Point.

He and his brother, Vincent, took over the family business, Varn International Inc., a printing supplies company, in 1970 and turned it into a global fixture in the industry, Christopher von Zwehl said.

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Joseph von Zwehl also was co-founder of The M.A.N. Foundation, a humanitarian nonprofit, and helped build the Rosa Mystica Chapel and House of Prayer, a spiritual retreat in upstate Edmeston.

With his father, there were certain constants.

Family commitment meant an annual vacation. "Every Thanksgiving," Christopher von Zwehl said, "it was a ritual."

So were weekend chores. "As kids we could not leave the house on a Saturday until your job was done," Christopher von Zwehl said. Lessons learned: responsibility and duty.

In addition to von Zwehl's son, Christopher, and brother, Vincent von Zwehl, 78, of Naples, Fla., survivors include his wife, Noreen, 76, of Muttontown; sons Mark von Zwehl, 45, of Fort Salonga, and Sean von Zwehl, 36, of Pompano Beach, Fla.; daughters Lisa Klingenberg, 53, of Old Brookville, JoAnne von Zwehl, 51, of Brookville, and Jeanine Johnsen, 47, of Darien, Conn.; a sister, Mary Jean Egan, 80, of Miami, and 12 grandchildren.

A funeral Mass was celebrated Jan. 31 at St. Edward The Confessor Roman Catholic Church in Syosset, followed by burial at Mount St. Mary Cemetery in Flushing.