Arthur Shapiro of Sweetheart Corp.

Arthur Shapiro, retired president of the Sweetheart Cup Corp. of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of ice cream cones, straws, matches and containers, died Saturday at his Los Angeles home at 81.

Shapiro, who developed the Maryland Cup Corp. and its Sweetheart subsidiary with his father, uncles and brother, was president of the corporation from 1960 until 1977.

He and his wife, Bernice, were philanthropists, funding a $2-million research center named for them at the City of Hope in Duarte and contributing to such other medical facilities as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Doheny Eye Clinic and Johns Hopkins University.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, daughter, granddaughter, brother and sister.