Jim Moran (automotive)
| Jim Moran | |
|---|---|
| Born |
James Martin Moran August 8, 1918 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 24, 2007 (aged 88) Hillsboro Beach, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Loyola Academy |
| Occupation | Businessman Founder of JM Family Enterprises Philanthropist Yachtsman |
| Spouse(s) | Arline Steveley Jan Moran |
| Children | Arline McNally, Pat Moran, Jim Moran, Jr. |
| Parent(s) | James and Anna Moran |
James Martin "Jim" Moran (August 8, 1918 – April 24, 2007) was an American car dealer and philanthropist whose net worth of $2.4 billion ranked him 390th on the Forbes 400 at the time of his death.
Moran was born in Chicago. His father died when he was 14, but his mother insisted he stay in school. He graduated from Loyola High School (now Loyola Academy) in 1936. Moran married Arline Steveley in 1941, then served in the U.S. Army from 1942-1943. He and his wife had three children: Arline in 1943, Pat in 1945 and Jim, Jr. in 1948. His first wife died from complications of rheumatoid arthritis in February, 1976. Moran married Janice Maxine Kline on July 30, 1976.
Following high school, he saved his money and bought a Sinclair gas station in 1939 for $360; returning to Chicago after his war service, he added a used-car lot, then opened a Hudson dealership, Midtown Motors in 1946 which grew to be the largest in the U.S. When Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator, he switched brands to Ford in 1955, renaming it Courtesy Ford. As the first car dealer to advertise on television, he became well known in the Chicago area as "Jim Moran the Courtesy Man." In an interview with Mike Downey in the Chicago Tribune on Oct. 21, 2005 as the World Series got underway, Moran recalled his 1959 promotion to give a free car to any Sox player who hit a home run in the 1959 World Series. (He ended up giving three 1960 Ford Falcons to slugger Ted Kluszewski.) By the late 1950s, Courtesy Ford had become the world's largest Ford dealer. On March 24, 1961 he became and remains the only automobile dealer to appear on the cover of Time Magazine.
...
Wikipedia