John W. Rollins
| John W. Rollins | |
|---|---|
| 14th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware | |
|
In office January 20, 1953 – January 15, 1957 |
|
| Governor | J. Caleb Boggs |
| Preceded by | Alexis I. du Pont Bayard |
| Succeeded by | David P. Buckson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 24, 1916 Keith, Catoosa County, Georgia |
| Died | April 4, 2000 (aged 83) Fairfax, Delaware |
| Political party | Republican |
| Parents | John William Rollins Claudia Nace Rollins |
| Relatives | O. Wayne Rollins (brother) |
| Residence | Greenville, Delaware |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Religion | United Methodist |
John W. Rollins (August 24, 1916 – April 4, 2000) was an American businessman and politician from Greenville in New Castle County, Delaware. He was a member of the Republican Party, and served as the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Delaware.
John W. Rollins was born in Keith, Catoosa County, Georgia, the son of John William Rollins and Claudia Nace Rollins, a farmer father and a schoolteacher mother.
He attended school in a one-room schoolhouse nine miles away in Ringgold, Georgia. In 1928, Rollins’s father fell ill and the 12-year-old boy accepted additional responsibilities on the family farm. Although he worked hard to help his mother provide for the family he had an entrepreneurial spirit and tried his hand at an early age selling door to door with things such as bedspreads. In the aftermath of the great depression, he left the family farm in Ringgold and moved to Philadelphia. His career was a series of entrepreurial ventures ultimately ending up with the formation of 9 NYSE firms and countless other business ventures. He had a great mind for business and an unstoppable positive attitude.
He was married three times, to Kitty Jacob, Linda Kuechler, and Michele Metrinko, and had ten children including John W., Jr., James, Catherine, Patrick, Ted, Jeff, Michele, Monique, Michael and Marc, as well as eleven grandchildren, John III, Jamie, Fontayne, Charlie, Rachel, Katie, Sarah, Emma, Kaitlyn, William, and Morgan.
After World War II, Rollins and his wife Kitty moved to Lewes, Delaware where he opened a Ford dealership. Rollins aggressively expanded his business by buying other dealerships in Maryland and Virginia. During this time, he also began to help pioneer the concept of leasing automobiles.
In 1947, Rollins’ older brother, O. Wayne Rollins, moved to Lewes from Georgia and joined him in the business in Delaware. The following year, the brothers founded Rollins Broadcasting and bought 1460 WRAD, an AM radio station based in the rural town of [Radford, Virginia]. As television continued to intrude on the traditional radio market, Rollins Broadcasting took advantage of falling radio station prices by increasing its holdings and launching programming targeted toward African-Americans. Rollins then developed a coordinated approach to advertising by buying billboards that allowed him to offer clients multiple advertising venues for their products. In 1956, Rollins Broadcasting expanded its business into television.
...
Wikipedia