Gussie Busch
| Gussie Busch | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August Anheuser Busch, Jr. March 28, 1899 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died |
September 29, 1989 (aged 90) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Occupation | Brewing Executive |
| Spouse(s) |
Marie Church Busch Elizabeth Overton Busch Gertrude Buholzer Busch Margaret Rohde |
| Children |
Carlota Busch Webster Lilly Busch Hermann August Busch III Elizabeth Busch Burke Beatrice Busch von Gontard Peter W. Busch Trudy Busch Valentine William K. Busch Andrew D. Busch Adolphus August Busch[1] |
| Parent(s) |
August Anheuser Busch, Sr. Alice Zisemann |
| Relatives |
Adolphus Busch (paternal greatfather) Bob Hermann (son-in-law) |
August Anheuser "Gussie" Busch, Jr. (March 28, 1899 – September 29, 1989) was an American brewing magnate who built the Anheuser-Busch Companies into the largest brewery in the world by 1957 as company chairman from 1946 to 1975.[2]
He became a prominent sportsman as owner of the St. Louis Cardinals franchise in Major League Baseball from 1953 until his death. The Cardinals inducted him into the team Hall of Fame in 2014.
Early life
August Anheuser Busch, Jr., was born on March 28, 1899 in St. Louis, Missouri. His father was August Anheuser Busch, Sr., was the President of Anheuser-Busch. His mother was Alice Zisemann. His paternal grandfather, Adolphus Busch, was the German-born founder of Anheuser-Busch.[3]
Career
Anheuser-Busch
Starting at lower levels to learn the family business of Anheuser-Busch Company, Busch became superintendent of brewing operations in 1924 and head of the brewing division after his father's death in 1934.[4] After his older brother Adolphus Busch III's death in 1946, August A. Jr. succeeded him as President and CEO.
He led the company to become the largest brewery in the world by 1957, having previously competed with Pabst and Schlitz for the top spot. He expanded it from a single site in St. Louis to operating nine separate breweries nationwide. By 1973 Anheuser-Busch had "aggregate beer sales of 26,522,000 barrels."[2] In 1964, under his leadership, production at the St. Louis facility alone reached the ten million barrels-per-year mark.
Described as a showman and salesman,[4] Busch began using the Clydesdale team in 1933, putting them into service to commemorate the end of Prohibition by having a team "haul the first case of Budweiser down Pennsylvania Avenue for delivery to President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House."[4] He made their image part of the company logo and had them appear regularly at public events.[5]
St. Louis Cardinals
In 1953, Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was convicted of tax evasion. Facing almost certain banishment from baseball, he put the Cardinals up for sale. When Busch got word that Saigh was seriously considering selling the team to interests who would move the team to Houston; he decided to have Anheuser-Busch get into the bidding in order to keep the Cardinals in St. Louis.[4] Ultimately, Busch persuaded Saigh to take less money ($3.75 million) than what he was being offered by out-of-town interests in the name of civic pride, and also achieved a marketing tool.[4]
As chairman, president or CEO of the Cardinals from the time the club was purchased by the brewery in 1953 until his death, Busch oversaw a team that won six National League pennants (1964, 1967, 1968, 1982, 1985, 1987) and three World Series (1964, 1967 and 1982). When his son, August Busch III, ousted him as president of Anheuser-Busch, the elder Busch remained as president of the Cardinals.
Although the Cardinals were the dominant baseball team in St. Louis, they did not own their own ballpark. Since 1920 they had rented Sportsman's Park from the St. Louis Browns of the American League. Shortly after buying the Cardinals, Busch bought and extensively renovated the park, renaming it Busch Stadium (but only after a failed attempt to rename it as Budweiser Stadium). The team played there until Busch Memorial Stadium was built in the middle of the 1966 season.[6]
In 1984, the Cardinals retired a number, 85, in Busch's honor, which was his age at the time.
Personal life
Busch married four times, having a total of eleven children. Two of his marriages ended in divorce, and his fourth wife, the former Margaret Rohde, died in 1988.[4]
At the time of his death, his surviving children (with married names) were Carlota Busch Giersch of Pasadena, Calif., and Lilly Busch Hermann (wife of Bob Hermann) of St. Louis, both daughters of the late Mrs. Marie Church Busch; August A. Busch III of St. Louis and Elizabeth Busch Burke of Middleburg, Virginia, both children of the late Elizabeth Overton Busch; and Adolphus A. Busch IV and Beatrice Busch von Gontard, both of St. Louis; Peter W. Busch of Vero Beach, Florida; and Trudy Busch Valentine, William K. Busch and Andrew D. Busch of St. Louis, all six the children of Gertrude Buholzer Busch.[4]
His youngest child, daughter Christina Martina Busch, died at the age of eight in a car accident while on her way home from school in December 1974.[4]
Death and legacy
Busch died in St. Louis on September 29, 1989, at age 90, of pneumonia.[4]
Fred Kuhlman took over as Cardinals team president.[7] Seven years later in 1996, Anheuser-Busch sold the Cardinals to a group of investors led by William DeWitt, Jr.
In 2014, the Cardinals announced Busch among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of 2014.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ "Born.". Time (magazine). July 27, 1953. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
To August ("Gussie") Anheuser Busch Jr., 54, president of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., second biggest U.S. brewery (Budweiser), and president of the St. Louis Cardinals, and his third wife, Gertrude Buholzer Busch, 26: their first child (his fifth), a son. Name: Adolphus August. Weight: 8 lbs. 10 oz.
- 1 2 Holian, Timothy J. "Adolphus Busch." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 3, edited by Giles R. Hoyt. German Historical Institute. Last modified August 09, 2013.
- ↑ "The Baronial Busches: St. Louis brewer's big family lead exuberant, expansive lives". Time (New York City). May 2, 1955. pp. 127–135. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Robert McG. Thomas, Jr., "August A. Busch Jr. Dies at 90; Built Largest Brewing Company", On This Day, New York Times, 30 September 1989, accessed 3 July 2015
- ↑ “Budweiser’s Famous ‘Eight-Horse Hitch’,” Brewers Digest 27.5 (May 1952), 40-41
- ↑ Smith, Curt (2001). Storied Stadiums. New York City: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 0-7867-1187-6.
- ↑ Schlegel, John (April 3, 2010). "Former Cards executive Kuhlmann dies". www.stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com. Retrieved November 9, 2013.
- ↑ Cardinals Press Release (January 18, 2014). "Cardinals establish Hall of Fame & detail induction process". www.stlouis.cardinals.mlb.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
External links
| Sporting positions | ||
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| Preceded by |
St. Louis Cardinals President 1953–1989 |
Succeeded by Fred Kuhlmann |
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