John Hammons, who grew up during the Depression, built some 200 hotels and donated millions of dollars to hospitals, colleges, and public television, mostly in and around Springfield, Mo. Most have 'John Q. Hammons' in their name, prompting jokes that Springfield should be renamed 'Hammonsville.'
John Q. Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and philanthropist, died May 26 at a nursing home in Springfield, Mo., said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts.
Courtesy of John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts / AP
EnlargeJohn Q.?Hammons, a prominent hotel developer and southwest Missouri philanthropist who rose from a poor Depression-era childhood to build a national real estate empire, has died. He was 94.
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Hammons, who actively led his company well into his 80s, died peacefully Sunday at a nursing home in Springfield, said Sheri Davidson Smith, a spokeswoman for John Q.?Hammons?Hotels & Resorts.
Hammons' first business ? a company that sold mortar-less bricks ? went bust in the late 1940s, saddling him with debt. He paid off that debt after two years and recovered to build housing subdivisions in southwest Missouri over the next decade before purchasing 10 Holiday Inn franchises with a partner in 1958 from the company's founder.
He went on to build 200 hotels nationwide, including Embassy Suites, Marriotts, Radissons, and Holiday Inns. Hammons?also developed an expansive real estate portfolio associated with those hotels of golf courses, restaurants, convention centers, a casino, and riverboat gambling. He avoided big-city locations in favor of properties in college towns and state capitals.
"He would say, 'The kids will always go to school, and you can't fire the damn politicians,'" former company executive Scott Tarwater said in a March 2011 interview.
Along the way, he donated millions of dollars to local hospitals, colleges, and public television. His name graces so many buildings and streets in Springfield ? from the basketball arena at Missouri State University to the city's tallest building ? that comedian Bob Hope once joked that the city should change its name to "Hammonsville."
He regularly appeared on Forbes magazine's list of the wealthiest Americans and estimated his personal wealth several years ago at $1 billion. He took his company public in 1994 before returning it to private ownership a decade later. During his career, according to the company,?Hammons?developed 210 hotel properties in 40 states.
"He has made such a major, significant difference to this community," Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, said in a 2007 interview. "Some people may not see the way he has put us on the map."
But?Hammons's recent years were shrouded in secrecy and controversy. In March 2011, a group of friends asked Greene County probate court to appoint?Hammons?a public guardian.
The friends' lawsuit said they weren't being allowed to visit him at a Springfield nursing home or even talk to him on the phone after Jacqueline Dowdy, whom?Hammons?gave power of attorney several years ago, took control of the John Q.?Hammons?Hotels & Resorts in October 2010, purged most of its top officials and placed Hammons?in "involuntary seclusion."
The court appointed a Springfield doctor in May 2011 to serve as?Hammons's temporary guardian. The doctor allowed supervised visits with?Hammons, though that didn't alleviate the feud. Dowdy, a former administrative assistant and accountant, became CEO after nearly 40 years of working alongside?Hammons.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/A86t0997rOE/John-Hammons-dies-I-swore-I-would-never-be-poor
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