MULTIGENERATIONAL PHARMACISTS
A Family Affair Pharmacists share their experiences working in family businesses and with relatives in the industry By Sandra Levy
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hey speak about their parents with utmost adulation. They are joyful that they are working side by side with their relatives. They can’t hide how proud they are of their sons and daughters. These are the pharmacists whose grandparents, parents and siblings are pharmacists. They also are the pharmacists who are married to pharmacists, and whose children are following in their footsteps. Whether they are multigenerational pharmacy owners, or hang their white coats in vastly different healthcare settings, their passion and enthusiasm for pharmacy has made the profession truly a family affair. Drug Store News sat down with several pharmacists to find out what has inspired them to keep pharmacy in the family.
Heidi Snyder
When Heidi Snyder was only 5 years old she loved going to work with her dad, Danny Kantor, at his pharmacy in Elmsford, N.Y. “I loved the smell of the pharmacy,” she said. “If I had a choice with what to do with my dad, that’s what I wanted to do.” Snyder, who has owned Drug World in Cold Spring, N.Y., since 2003, said her dad was the ultimate entrepreneur. He eventually owned four pharmacies. Kantor, who passed away in 2020, also had many leadership roles, including serving as president of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York and as chairman of NACDS’ small chain conference, known as NACDS Regional today.
CATHERINE CARY, LEFT, AND HER SISTER GREW UP IN BREMO PHARMACY, OWNED BY THEIR LATE FATHER, DAN HERBERT, RIGHT.
Snyder recalled that her dad was tough on her. He even fired her three times when she was a teen. After Snyder went to pharmacy school in Boston, she earned a master’s degree in marketing in Chicago, and then worked as a pharmacist in California. When her dad wanted to retire at the age of 60, Snyder, who was 37 years old at the time, moved her family back from California so she could take over the business. “I read every file in every file cabinet. I sat in his office for every meeting he had. I got to hear him on the phone,” she said, adding that he even took her to NACDS board meetings. In 2000, Snyder’s father sold the business to her. “I had the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. He told her: “‘You’ve got this.’” Finally, Snyder recalled playing the game Life with her dad. “He wanted more of the dollar signs and hearts. I had equal amounts of each. I needed some fame in my life.” Snyder, who has administered over 5,000 COVID-19 shots, recently got her share of fame. “Someone walked into my store and said, ‘You’re Heidi. You’re our heroine.’ I couldn’t stop crying,” she said.
Catherine Cary
HEIDI SNYDER, LEFT, WAS INSPIRED TO ENTER THE PHARMACY PROFESSION BY HER LATE FATHER, DANNY KANTOR, RIGHT.
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Catherine Cary and her sister Michelle Thomas are both pharmacists who grew up in Bremo Pharmacy, owned by their dad, Dan Herbert. Herbert, who was president of the American Pharmacists Association when he passed away in 2004, opened Bremo Pharmacy in Richmond, Va., in 1976. He oversaw five pharmacies at one time. “We grew up surrounded by pharmacy,” Cary said. “My dad ran the pharmacy, my mom did the books and our living room was the business office. All four children helped out when they were too young to work. We went with him so he wouldn’t be by himself, from when
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