August 25th, 1953 – October 3rd, 2024

Harry Frederick Arader, Jr., a brilliant and extraordinary man, left us too soon; his memory will forever remain in our hearts.

He was born on August 25, 1953, in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania to Harry and Margaret (Bryne) Arader, Sr. He was their first born and the oldest of their five children.

Harry’s family moved to Chappaqua, New York early in his childhood. After graduating Horace Greeley High School and succeeding at not getting into too much trouble with his dearest friend, Tim Klemmer, he left for college. In 1976, he graduated from Purchase College, SUNY, with a B.S. in Anthropology.

After graduation, Harry, like most young men at that age, wasn’t quite sure of his professional career path. He decided to pack up his guitar and tour Europe with the plan of meeting up with one of his friends. When the two didn’t connect and that plan fell through, Harry was on his own. He got gigs at various establishments which allowed him to experience different countries but after a year, he decided it was time to come home. With a convincing musician’s resume, he continued to pick up gigs in New York City and drove a taxi part-time to help pay the bills. At some point, Harry realized he wasn’t going to be discovered and knew he wanted more to life than his current path. A passenger in his cab inadvertently left a book, The Double Helix; that book would change Harry’s life forever.

Harry felt that if he was to succeed in business, an MBA was a necessity. In 1983, he graduated in the top ten percent of his class earning his name on the prestigious Director’s List from the Wharton School of Business. With his MBA in Marketing and Strategic Planning, Harry was hired by Merck, Sharp, & Dohme in Philadelphia into their marketing program. He was quickly promoted to a Research Analyst where he created promotional effectiveness measurement capabilities.

While working at Merck in Syracuse, Harry decided to stop at a local gathering place. It was a Wednesday evening on October 19, 1983. Harry was sitting at a horse-shoe bar and on the other side was a girl, he later would describe as a beautiful woman having the most beautiful hair. “The hues of the sun rose and set within her strands.” That girl, of course, was Susan Coniglio.

In 1986, he was recruited by Searle in Chicago. Harry, a thoroughbred New Yorker, made his move to Illinois with Susan by his side. Harry may have had a challenge at first adapting to the ways that Midwestern’s embrace the world, but he soon found the not-so-fast-paced lifestyle rewarding.

Settling in Evanston, Illinois, Harry and Susan bought a home by the lake. Harry became fast friends with the local windsurfers that became lifelong comrades. Every day, rain or shine, Harry would walk down to the lake in the early morning hours and center his thoughts for the day.

After several attempts of asking Sue to marry him, the first after three weeks of dating, Harry realized that perhaps a ring and a formal proposal after nine years together would secure a “yes.” On October 24, 1992, amongst family and friends, they were married at the historic Redfield House within the Grove Nature Preserve in Glenview, Illinois.

Harry was on a fast-career path. Searle hired him as a product manager. One of the products, Stilnox, a German-based prescription drug for insomnia needed a new name. Harry took out his entire staff for margaritas to brainstorm. By the end of the evening, the name, Ambien, meaning, “good morning” was born and a successful product launch followed. Harry was soon promoted to Director, Executive Director, Vice President of International Marketing and finally, Managing Director of Searle-China, where he had full P&L responsibility for $30M of business in the PRC, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Having loyally served Searle for over ten years, Harry decided to accept the offer from Millennium Pharmaceutical in Massachusetts when they approached him to become their CFO. After a highly successful public offering and merger with ChemGenics, Harry returned to Chicago and he and Susan bought a home in Lincoln Park.

It was during this time, that Harry became involved with Collaboraction Theatre. It was in its early stages of development when he became their first Board President. He made a huge impact on the company’s trajectory and growth through his leadership, strategic planning and development of company culture. He proudly watched them evolve into a nationally recognized social justice theatre company. They have been honored with a Comcast/Ovation Stand for the Arts Award and an Otto Award for “ground-breaking political theater.” They also received Emmy Awards for Outstanding Achievement for Human Interest, Long Form and Outstanding Documentary for “The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Trial in the Delta.”

Desiring a second home within three hours of Chicago, Harry and Sue purchased a historic house on Lake Michigan and restored it with all the touches that made it their own. Everyone within their circle of friends and family cherished an invitation to Grand Haven to spend time at Camp Arader, as it was affectionately christened. Harry and Sue were truly happy there. It was during this time that they decided to add to their family. This was a surprise to all who knew them.

Cooper and Josephine, their four-legged MultiPoo’s changed their life. Daily walks, training, and seasonal dog clothes shopping were added to their agenda.

After an exemplary business career, Harry announced that he was going to try his hand at retirement. In asking Harry to explain the definition of his retirement, he would get that well-known Arader smile and say that it was as good of a time as any. We all listened, but knowing Harry we knew that his retirement would probably be short-lived as he would always keep one hand in his loved field of biotech.

Harry and Sue sold their condo in Chicago in 2008 and made Camp Arader their full-time home. Harry added a sound studio, wrote more music, and added more guitars to his already vast collection. One cannot think about Harry without visualizing a guitar in his hand. He recently composed and had four albums released on Spotify. He confirmed that although he wrote many songs, more songs were written about the love of his life, his life-long companion, Susan.

Harry was a gifted artist. While living in Michigan, he took classes at Ox-Bow School of Art. He was so supportive of the artists that he sat on the board of directors for several years. Harry’s favorite art form was watercolors. He chose to paint subjects that were important to him. He started sharing these paintings in 2005 by having them copied into holiday cards, which was a tradition for over 18 years and well received by anyone who was lucky enough to be a recipient.

Harry founded The Centromere Group in 1997, which was his personal consulting practice. He offered his clients that were often in the early stages of development, business strategies and marketing. He proudly and successfully continued in his role as President through 2024.

Harry became CEO of BioDisplay Technology in 1999. He led this company from inception through successful acquisition by Abbott Laboratories.

It was during this time that Harry connected with the St. Louis biotech community. As a biotech entrepreneur, he was able to lend his vast experience where needed. He joined Orion Genomics and acted as their Chief Business Officer, which led them to profitable operations. He was President and CEO of Midway Animal Health in developing novel technology that replaces antibiotics used in production animals. He was CEO of Apse LLC, a biotechnology company with patented technology for manufacturing large quantities of interfering RNA (RNAi) at very low cost.

In 2011, Harry was hired by BioGenerator. After making the long commute back and forth from Grand Haven to St. Louis for several years, a heart-breaking decision to sell Camp Arader was made in 2017. With Sue at the helm of finding a new home, they settled into the Central West End and began making new friends.

Professionally, Harry’s last and certainly very important role for him was his contribution to BioGenerator, a company that creates, grows and invests in promising bioscience companies and entrepreneurs in the St. Louis region. As Director of Entrepreneur Development, he and his BioGenerator colleagues, created and successfully launched a program that helped life-science company founders by providing one-on-one business coaching and access to business development resources. They also offered grant application development services to early-stage St. Louis regional companies. Their client companies raised over $200M in equity capital and over $97M in grant funding from federal agencies. They also conceived, planned, launched and led BioGenerators Center for Defense Medicine which accelerated med-tech companies of high interest to the U.S. Department of Defense. Harry built the Grant2Business Program which brought in over $50M in non-dilutive funding and partnered with Washington University innovators to build companies. A whole generation of biotech entrepreneurs that Harry helped mentor are now running venture-backed startups in the St. Louis region.

The last challenge of his life came as heart-breaking news for all of us. In June, he was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. He passed away four months later at his home on October 3rd, at the age of 71. His beloved partner of 41 years, Susan, was by his side.

This tribute to his life only touches on a thumbnail of the man he was during his 71 years. Some men never live, some never love; Harry loved much, lived large and did more in his lifetime than most ever dream of doing. His laughter, his wit, his clear & strong voice, his intelligence, his sought-out wisdom, and his caring and loving passion for life will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Harry leaves to mourn his loss, his wife, Susan (Coniglio) Arader, his siblings, Ann Arader, David (Jodi) Arader, Meg Arader (Arthur) Mark, Julie (Bob Clifford) Arader. His nieces, Shannon (Arader) Jackson and Rebekah Mark; his nephews, Jared Arader, Henry Mark, and Samuel Mark. His in-laws, Richard (Santa) Coniglio, James (Linda) Coniglio and Mary Grace Coniglio and their children, Amanda (Branham) & Kyle Weeks, Kimberly Coniglio, Samuel Coniglio, Francesca Coniglio. His cherished pets, Cooper and Josephine Arader; and many, many friends and business colleagues.

A Celebration of Harry’s Life will be held

November 16th, 2024 

8:00pm – 10:00pm

Third Degree Glass Factory

5200 Delmar Blvd, 63108

St. Louis, MO 

Contributions can be made to the following organizations:

Collaboraction’s House of Belonging Capital Campaign in Harry’s name to support the construction of Collaboraction’s new theater, complete with a studio, cabaret and bar/cafe, in Chicago.
or mail your donation to: Collaboraction, c/o Anthony Moseley, 5937 W. Byron St., Chicago, IL 60634 with a notation that it be given in Harry’s name.

Siteman Cancer Center – If giving online click on “Other – Designation” and fill in “GF0005133 Leukemia Research”. If giving by check note “GF0005133 Leukemia Research” on memo line and mail to: MSC 1082-414-2555. Washington University, 1 Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130.