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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978-01-06 John D MacArthur Dies (Palm Beach Post)WEATHER Partly cloudy and mild through Saturday. Highs in the upper 70s. Low tonight near 60. TItePalm ikathiinus VOL. LVI, NO. 85 WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA, FRIDAY AFTERNOON, JANUARY 6, 1978 48 PAGES-15c John D. MacArthur dies JOHN D. MACARTHUR, 1897-1978 By MARLENE PASSELL Times Staff Writer John Donald MacArthur, one of America's last billionaires, who said he wanted to live to be 80, died at Good Samaritan Hospital at 2:12 a.m. today without emerging from the coma into which he lapsed Thursday. He was 80. The insurance magnate and land developer whose fortune was estimated at $3 billion, died two months to the day before his 81st birthday and three days after his physician revealed MacArthur had cancer of the pancreas. In announcing the tycoon's death, Ron Kairalla, one of his aides, said in an emotional statement at 3 a.m. today, "The community has lost a great person." In a second press conference late this morning, Kairalla said funeral services will be private and at a time of the family's convenience. Asked if MacArthur had been kept alive by artificial means, Kairalla said no, "he did not want to be kept alive using oxygen that another pa- tient could use to recover. After the operation he died a very natural death —pain free and with dignity," he said. "Mr. MacArthur was a very me- thodical man. No one was more fu- turistic and realistic than he. He knew that no one ever lived forever. He was very fortunate in the good Lord giving him 80 years." "Anyone who really knew the man, loved the man,"Kairalla said. "I will remember him in a thousand different ways. He was strong, com- More about MacArthur, D6 He was one of a kind, associates say of tycoon passionate, brilliant in business, a man's man, a businessman's dream, a man with a heart as big as this room." "He was a man who had a lot of friends in key places," Kairalla said. "He shook hands meaningfully with the most powerful people in the world... And, contrastingly, he was best friends with people who couldn't pay their utility bills as well as with people who owned utili- ty companies. The aide said MacArthur's family has asked that those who wish to send flowers send them to the chari- ty of their choice. He said flowers already sent while MacArthur was hospitalized were sent to the pediat- rics ward of Good Samaritan Hospi- tal. "I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me," MacArthur had said in the past. "I've lived a good life and been reasonably happy all my life." MacArthur had said after a bout with unrelated stomach cancer se- ven years ago that he wanted to live to be 80. "After that, you are au- thorized to write my official obitu- ary," he told a reporter. MacArthur is survived by his wife, Catherine; son, Roderick; daughter, Virginia Cordova de MacArthur, and six grandchildren. His son said earlier this week af- ter the announcement that his father had two weeks to live, that MacAr- thur's wish to be cremated will be honored. MacArthur suffered a stroke on Nov. 23, 1976, at his Colonnades Beach Hotel. The usually accessible tycoon re- mained in isolation for more than seven months following the stroke. The isolation ended in July 1977 when MacArthur "went public" to accept a Horatio Alger award, sym- bolic of his accomplishments as a self-made man. His public appearances were many, though the speeches were few. Twice weekly trips to Miami, for speech therapy, after the stroke was but another indication of Mac - Arthur's determination never to ad- mit defeat. The stroke made him a mellower and more philosophical individual,. In his first formal interview following the illness, he spoke of his disbelief in the "indispensable man." "I think if I should drop dead tomorrow, all of this would go right Continued on Page A2 Col. 3 Times photo by Max Kaufmann John D. MacArthur dies at 80 Continued from Page Al on," he said, waving his expansive arm. About a month after that inter- view, the billionaire was among 18 defendants named in a civil suit filed by the federal government claiming land fraud in the Holley -by - the -Sea development in Pensacola. Filed by the Department of Hous- ing and Urban Development, the suit claimed MacArthur and other cor- porate officers made false state- ments to induce the buying of land at the development. Characteristically, a call to the Colonnades Beach Hotel for com- ments on the lawsuit by the tycoon resulted in the switchboard call be- ing answered by MacArthur. He said he was discouraged by the government attitude and unfamiliar with the government's allegations but promised to reply to the charges in more detail later. MacArthur was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital Dec. 18, 1977, in a weakened condition after several weeks of not eating well. His problem was first diagnosed as gall bladder difficulties, but after spending the Christmas holidays at home with his wife, he returned to the hospital where "inoperable and incurable" cancer of the pancreas was diagnosed after exploratory sur- gery. Tuesday, MacArthur's physician of many years, Dr. Donald Warren an- nounced that MacArthur would be dead within two weeks. MacArthur was born March 6, 1897 in Pittston, Pa., the seventh and last child of Rev. and Mrs. William T. MacArthur. He was one of four sons of a Pres- byterian minister, each of whom eventually made a mark. The eldest, Alfred, became a re- spected insurance company presi- dent. Next was Teller, who ran a chain of suburban newspapers around Chicago. Third was Charles, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and husband of actress Helen Hayes. All preceded insurance magnate John in death. Their father had a church in Nyack, N.Y., and the two oldest sons went into business in Chicago. Young John was apprenticed to brother Alfred in the insurance busi- ness, took time out for World War I where he served with the Canadians as a pilot. He shot down two planes and spent six months in a Toronto hospital recovering from a back in- jury sustained when his plane was shot down. ing within the law, he reportedly was often on the fringes, and certain of his tax practices were eventually banned by the Internal Revenue Ser- vice — for example, artificially maintaining statutory life reserves by selling life policies to employees on credit in order to avoid paying maximum corporation tax. In addition, mail-order policy mer- chandising was eventually banned by the Illinois Insurance Commission after his successful methods were copied and flagrantly abused by many fly-by-nighters. Despite his legal struggles, the MacArthur Insurance Group (Bank- ers Life and several smaller firms acquired for cash) prospered and as of January, 1975, had assets of over $100 million with more than $4 bil- lion worth of policies in force. Coincident with the rise of MacAr- thur's insurance business was the growth of his bank holdings. Starting in 1936 with the purchase of Citizens Bank and Trust of Park Ridge, I11., (January 1975 assets: $265 million), he acquired United Bank and Trust of Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1968. Although the bank had assets of only $1.7 million, he soon consumat- ed a merger with New York's Royal National Bank which had assets of $285 million. The bank had no legal connection with any of MacArthur's other hold- ings. He financed the move on his own, taking a 45 percent position in the stock and emerging as chairman of the board. As of January 1975, Royal National had increased its as- sets to $310 million. MacArthur also had other diverse holdings. Starting with isolated small acquisitions, such as oil pro- perties, a printing company and an airport service firm, he picked up a chain of 50 hotels (but later sold many of them) through a mortgage default. "I spent a lifetime building up a company and it was great satisfac- tion to have a piece of paper laid on my desk and see a few more zeroes than there were the year before," he once said. Another default led to his big move into Florida real estate in the mid-1950's when he acquired 2,000 acres in Palm Beach County. The land included most of what is now Lake Park, North Palm Beach Palm Beach Gardens and some of Palm Beach Shores 'on Singer Island. Much of the property was swamp- land and MacArthur, years later, ex- pressed his feelings about his Florida land. "When you come to Florida, see a swamp, wade up to your belly in water and go back a year later and see houses and bicy- cles and schools spring out of the ground, it's a special kind of satis- faction." Most of the property was once owned by Sir Harry Oakes, a British land speculator, who was mysteri- ously murdered in the Bahamas in the early 1940s. Oakes had main- tained a large Spanish -style mansion wlch later was used by the North Palm Beach Country Club and now serves as a village recreation cen- ter. helped develop, however, and he was soon buying again instead of selling. Among his purchases were the Biltmore Hotel, which he had planned to renovate until he was slowed by a long illness in the 1960s. He had several offers to sell it but he was determined that the stately building which has stood sentinel over Lake Worth, would be refur- bished, not razed in favor of modern condominiums. It is now being reno- vated by Stanley J. Harte to whom he sold it in October, 1977. In June 1976 he bought the Rama- da Inn on the Green in West Palm Beach, saying "I had a little extra change in my piggy bank so I thought I would buy it." His biggest run-in with his neigh- bors came in 1974 when he was forced by a court to change the name of his PGA Country Club to the JDM Country Club. MacArthur had built the club in Palm Beach Gardens in 1963 and it was officially sanctioned the PGA National Golf Club. In 1973 he evicted the association charging it had violated its sweet- heart lease agreement and was a "very hostile tenant." The association then filed suit against its former landlord alleging that his continued use of the name PGA created unfair competition and confusion since the two were no lon- ger affiliated. MacArthur's love was his Colon- nades Beach Hotel on Singer Island. It provided him with an endless sup- ply of new people to meet. Friends said he made time for everyone and everything from worrying about plates for a banquet booked in the hotel to deciding when to close a multi -million dollar deal. The hotel has grown like the ern- pire, a hodge-podge with an unbe- lievable mix of architectural styles and gimmicky additions. It was two - storied when he purchased it but MacArthur plopped four more stories and a penthouse (named for Bob Hope) on top of it despite warn- ings from builders that "the whole damn thing would collapse." The hotel is a reflection of its ca- sual owner who was known to skimp on maintenance. With two swim- ming pools, one olympic size, and not heated, the Colonnades has been a favorite watering place for Cana- dians and they arrive each season in planeloads. Children have had the run of the place, playing with the elevators and around the owner's exotic ducks, or- namental gardens, pools, the beach cabanas and acres of lawn. Although occasionally angered by attempts of some of his neighbors to thwart his business activities, Mac- Arthur usually took criticism from them cheerfully. The closest he ever came to revealing the secret to his money- making success was "be sure you know when the breaks are coming your way —and then work like hell." MacArthur rated cis 'one of a kind' Continued from Page Al over his dredge and fill plans, but fortunately they worked out in favor of the Village of North Palm Beach," Privett said. Current North Palm Mayor M.C. Love Jr. said, "We've had conflicts with Mr. MacArthur, but all in all he did a good job in the north end and was instrumental in developing it into what it is today." Palm Beach Gardens Mayor Rich- ard Feeney called MacArthur, founder of the town, "A tremendous individual. No one has affected the people of Florida as much as he has." Lake Park Mayor J. Clifton Cook said, "He's done a great deal for the area in spite of the fact that many of us have criticized him for his con- trol of the area." Palm Beach Shores Mayor Paul J. Kiang said, "We're really very sorry to hear the passing of Mr. MacAr- thur. He was the most prominent resident of our community and he'll be missed." The Palm Beach Times P.O. Drawer T 2751 5. Dixie Highway West Palm Beach, Fla. 33402 I week 6 ma. 1 year Telephone 833-7411 SUBSCRIPTION RATES (BY CARRIER) Daily 5 da. & Post- Sunday Times Post; Sat. Times S .70 S .30 18.20 7.80 36.40 15.60 Daily & Sunday S 1.00 26.00 52.00 SUBSCRIPTION RATES (BY MAIL) Payable in Advance 1 Year S35.20 S15.60 6 months 18.60 9.3%0 3 months I0.30 1 month 3.95 2.00 S52.80 26.90 13.95 5.90 Published every afternoon except Saturday and Sunday by Palm Beach Newspaprs, Inc, at 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Reach, Fla Entered as second class mail at West. Palm Beach. Published every Saturday and Sunday in com- bination with The Palm Beach Post as the Palm Beach Post -Times. National Advertising Representatives Sawyer -Ferguson -Walker Co. 245 Park Ave. New York, N.Y. 10017 Riviera Beach Mayor Bobbie Brooks described MacArthur as a shrewd businessman but added that their relationship had been a good one and that he would be missed. `Conservationist' was title he sought Continued from Page Al the pond like scarecrows in a corn- field. "Those are such cute little ducks," he told me, "and you know I'm always for the underdog." "John," I said, "you amaze me. With all the problems you've got to contend with, and here you're wor- rying about a few little ducks." "Don't be fooled," he told me in one of his serious moments. "Under this old crust, there's a heart." • I knew the first time I saw Mac- Arthur referred to as a "billionaire" in print that it was an important milestone in his life. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to get his reaction. He was pleased but he didn't want to acknowledge it when I confronted him. "How does anybody really know what he's worth," MacArthur said. "The way things are today you never know from one day to anoth- er." "But you must have a good idea, John," I said. "Are you or aren't you a millionaire?" "Well, let's put it this way," he said, enjoying every moment of the conversation. "I come when I'm called." Jensen man drowns JENSEN BEACH — A 70-year-old man drowned Thursday morning in a canal behind his house. Eugene Edward Bryant, 1005 Ter- race Way, was found floating face down at the end of a dock. He was fully clothed. His wife, Marthe Bryant, told a deputy she missed him at midnight and looked for him outside. At 6:30 a.m. she saw something floating in the water and discovered the body. ever the war he held various jobs, including a stint as a police reporter for the Chicago Herald Examiner before starting his own company, Marquette Life Insurance Co., in 1928, with $7,500 capital. MacArthur began during the Great Depression although at one point his company's assets dwindled to $16. It was then that he began to make his mark on the business world by selling low-cost life insurance. "It was a natural market," he re- called years later. "The Depression was on, the banks were closed and you didn't have any money." "You had kids, you were sorry you lost your old policy. So, I said, `Well, give me two bucks.' and you reached into your pocket and were insured for, say, $1,600. "At that time, no big insurance company would take a monthly pay- ment unless it was $10 or more. The other companies were saying to me: 'It costs us $630 for handling an item through our books. You want to take a dollar premium. You've lost your mind.' "I was able to do it because I didn't have all this overhead, like a big salary for a company president. Then when times got prosperous, we'd collect five dollar premiums. And now we're collecting $20 and so forth." In 1935, MacArthur acquired Bank- ers Life & Casualty for $2,500. By 1940, it had assets of $1 million. While other insurance companies relied mostly on their salesmen in the field, MacArthur turned during the war years to heavy mail-order policy promotion and the assets of Bankers Life shot up almost verti- cally. In his early days, as throughout his career, MacArthur was seldom far from controversy. He was the subject of many legal charges brought about because of his unorthodox business practices, such as carrying his suburban Chicago home as an investment of Bankers Life. While always found to be operat- 1 Ile only town In the area was Kelsey City, which later became Lake Park. After MacArthur took over the property, he financed the develop- ment of North Palm Beach and founded Palm Beach Gardens. He continued buying up land, part- ly in his own name and partly through Bankers Life and two real estate and holding companies, Royal American Industries and Southern Realty & Utilities. While Royal American continued to maintain a large inventory of un- developed land, as well as ownership of WEAT television and radio sta- tions (he sold both in 1975) Southern Realty eliminated all its land hold- ings to concentrate on other invest- ments such as utilities. MacArthur reputedly was the larg- est single land owner in Florida but he would never confirm the specula- tion. He once admitted to owning 100,000 acres in the state. "I've no idea what anyone else owns and I've no idea what the hell I own," he said. In 1974, miffed by efforts of envi- ronmentalists to block development of some of his property, MacArthur announced he was going to liquidate his Florida holdings and move to some place - where he would feel more welcome. He got as far as selling radio and television stations WEAT. It was as though he could not re- lease his loving grip on the area he Times Photo by John Lopinot Ron Kairalla announces MacArthur's death