Del Webb
{{Short description|American real-estate developer (1899–1974)}}
{{about|the real-estate developer|the firm|Del E. Webb Construction Company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{infobox person
|name = Del Webb
|image = Del E. Webb, 1964.jpg
|birth_name = Delbert Eugene Webb
|birth_date = {{birth date|1899|5|17}}
|birth_place = Fresno, California, U.S.
|death_date = {{death_date and age|1974|7|4|1899|5|17}}
|death_place = Rochester, Minnesota, U.S.
|occupation = Real estate developer
|employer =
|known_for =
- Co-owner of the New York Yankees ({{mlby|1945}}–{{mlby|1964}})
- Founder of the Del E. Webb Construction Company
|spouse = Hazel Lenora Church (1919–1952)
Toni Ince Webb (1961–1974)
}}
Delbert Eugene "Del" Webb (May 17, 1899 – July 4, 1974) was an American real-estate developer and a co-owner of the New York Yankees baseball club. He founded and developed the retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, which was built by his Del E. Webb Construction Company.{{Cite news |last=Kistler |first=Robert |date=1974-07-05 |title=Del Webb, Construction Tycoon and Once Yankees Owner, Dies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-del-webb-construc/159644551/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |work=The Los Angeles Times |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-del-webb-construc/159644551/ 1], [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-del-e-webb/159644628/ 12] |via=Newspapers.com}}
Early years
Webb was born in Fresno, California, to Ernest G. Webb, a fruit farmer, and Henrietta S. Webb. He dropped out of high school to become a carpenter's apprentice, and in 1919, he married Hazel Lenora Church, a graduate nurse. In 1920, Webb was a ship fitter, and they were living with his parents and two younger brothers in Placer County, California. At the age of 28, he suffered typhoid fever, and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to recover.
Career
In 1928, Webb began Del E. Webb Construction Company. He received many military contracts during World War II. In 1942, he led the construction of the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona, one of ten Japanese-American internment camps built during World War II, which held over 17,000 internees.{{cite web |last=Naylor |first=Roger |date=2015-04-24 |title=Arizona's Japanese-American internment camp: Thousands of U.S. Citizens were imprisoned at Poston Relocation Center |url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/travel/local/history/2015/04/24/arizonas-military-history-poston-memorial-monument/26201191/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=AZ Central}} Construction began on March 27, 1942, and was completed in three weeks. This was accomplished by a crew of 5,000 laborers working double shifts.
A former semiprofessional baseball player and a lifelong fan, Webb and partners Dan Topping and Larry MacPhail purchased the New York Yankees in 1945 for $2.8 million from the estate of Col. Jake Ruppert, Jr.{{Cite news |last=Hand |first=Jack |date=1945-01-27 |title=Del Webb And Associates Buy New York Yankees |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-arizona-republic-del-webb-and-associ/159643485/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |work=The Arizona Republic |page=10 |via=Newspapers.com}} After buying out MacPhail in October 1947, Webb and Topping remained owners of the Yankees until selling the club to CBS in 1964{{Cite news |date=1964-08-14 |title=Owners Okay Sale Of Yanks To CBS |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-palm-beach-post-owners-okay-sale-of/159644204/ |access-date=2024-11-24 |work=The Palm Beach Post |page=23 |publication-place=West Palm Beach, Florida |via=Newspapers.com |agency=Associated Press}} for $11.2 million. During those 20 seasons, the Yankees were in 15 World Series, winning 10.
In 1946 and 1947, mob boss Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel hired Webb as the general contractor for the Flamingo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. After boasting about his claim that he had personally killed 16 men, Siegel said to Webb, "Del, don't worry, we only kill each other", after seeing the panicked look on Webb’s face.Jennings, We Only Kill Each Other. (1992). p. 17 Aside from Howard Hughes, Webb would become the largest casino owner in Nevada after his Webb Corporation acquired the Sahara Nevada Corporation and its holdings of the Sahara and Mint hotels in Las Vegas.
In 1948, Webb was contracted to build 600 houses and a shopping center called Pueblo Gardens in Tucson, Arizona. San Manuel, Arizona, a mining company town and later a resort town, followed. Established in 1953, the town was built by Webb (along with M.O.W. Homes Inc.) for the Magma Copper Company. It required the building of streets, shopping centers, schools, a hospital, and parks.{{cite web |title=Del Webb Corporation History |url=http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/del-webb-corporation-history/ |access-date=28 December 2017 |website=Funding Universe}}{{cite web |last=Ascarza |first=William |date=2014-04-14 |title=Mine Tales: San Manuel was once world's largest underground copper mine |url=https://tucson.com/news/local/mine-tales-san-manuel-was-once-world-s-largest-underground/article_cbe2c60f-9516-520d-bcd3-b58679c1435d.html |access-date=28 December 2017 |website=Tucson.com}}{{cite news|url=http://repository.azgs.az.gov/sites/default/files/dlio/files/nid1566/cr-14-a_sanmanuel_v1.pdf |title=History of the San Manuel-Kalamazoo Mine, Pinal County, Arizona | access-date=29 December 2017}} This was a prelude to Sun City, Arizona, which launched on January 1, 1960, with five home models, a shopping center, a recreation center, and a golf course. The opening weekend drew 100,000 people, 10 times more than expected, and resulted in a Time cover story.{{cite journal |first=Judith Ann |last=Trolander |title=Age 55 or Better: Active Adult Communities and City Planning |journal=Journal of Urban History |year=2011 |volume=37 |issue=6 |pages=952–974 |doi=10.1177/0096144211418435 |pmid=22175080 |s2cid=25439269 }}
Personal life
In 1919, Webb married his childhood sweetheart, Hazel Lenora Church. They divorced in 1952. In 1961, Webb married Toni Ince, then aged 41, a buyer for Bullocks Wilshire department store in Los Angeles.{{Cite magazine |date=1962-08-03 |title=Modern Living: Man on the Cover: DEL WEBB |language=en-US |magazine=Time |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,896473,00.html |access-date=2023-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130044731/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,896473-1,00.html |archive-date=January 30, 2023 |issn=0040-781X}} Webb was elected to the Gaming Hall of Fame in 2000.{{cite web |title=The Gaming Hall of Fame |url=http://gaming.unlv.edu/hof/index.html |publisher=University of Nevada Las Vegas |access-date=August 30, 2009 |archive-date=March 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318103112/http://gaming.unlv.edu/hof/index.html |url-status=dead }}
Death
Webb died at age 75 in Rochester, Minnesota, on July 4, 1974, following surgery for lung cancer.{{Cite web |last=Hyman |first=Harold |date=1974-07-05 |title=Builder Del E. Webb Dies |url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/1974/jul/05/builder-del-e-webb-dies/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Las Vegas Sun |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060208060618/http://www.delwebb.com/About/History.aspx Del Webb company website history of company and man]
- [http://www.delewebbcenter.org/ Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts]
{{New York Yankees owners}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Webb, Del}}
Category:American casino industry businesspeople
Category:American construction businesspeople
Category:American businesspeople in real estate
Category:Major League Baseball owners
Category:New York Yankees owners
Category:People from Fresno, California
Category:Businesspeople from Phoenix, Arizona