[2] Kimmel attended Syracuse University but left to serve in the Army during World War II in the Pacific theater.
[2] Upon returning to the US, he worked with his father at the lighting store, and then for the construction company Henry Kimmel and Sons, where he learned about the homebuilding industry.
[2] Using the profits from his construction business on Long Island, Kimmel and his friend, Milton Cooper,[2][3] moved to Florida[2] and founded the Kimco Realty Corporation in 1958.
[2] The company went public in 1991 raising $128 million becoming the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) IPO in history.
In November 2008, his wife Helen donated $150 million toward construction of a new patient pavilion at the NYU Langone Medical Center in honor of her late husband.