William Robert Orthwein Jr. | |
---|---|
Born | February 12, 1917 |
Died | June 1, 2011 Clayton, Missouri |
(aged 93–94)
Cause of death | pneumonia |
Education | St. Louis Country Day School |
Alma mater | Yale University |
Occupation | Businessman, philanthropist |
Spouse(s) | Laura Rand |
Children | 3 daughters |
Parent(s) |
William R. Orthwein Nina Kent Baldwin |
Relatives |
William D. Orthwein (greatfather) Frederick C. Orthwein (uncle) Frank C. Rand (father-in-law) |
William R. Orthwein Jr. (1917–2011) was an American businessman and philanthropist.
William R. Orthwein Jr. was born February 12, 1917. His father, William R. Orthwein, was a lawyer who competed in water polo at the 1904 Summer Olympics, and his mother, Nina Kent Baldwin, was a schoolteacher. He had two brothers, Robert Baldwin Orthwein and David Kent Orthwein. His paternal grandfather, William D. Orthwein (1841–1925), was a German-born grain merchant in St. Louis.
Orthwein was educated at the Rossman School and the St. Louis Country Day School. He graduated from Yale University, where he received a degree in business in 1938.
Orthwein started his career as a salesman for the General American Life Insurance, now part of MetLife. In 1942, he joined McDonnell Douglas, now Boeing. He served as the President and Chairman of one of its subsidiaries, the McDonnell Automation Co., from 1970 1982. He served its Board of Directors until his death on June 1, 2011.
Additionally, Orthwein served on the Boards of Directors of the Mercantile Bancorporation and the Microdata Corporation.
Orthwein was a generous philanthropist in St. Louis, Missouri. Over the years, he and his wife donated millions of dollars to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the St. Louis Science Center, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and the Saint Louis Zoo, where they established the Orthwein Animal Nutrition Center. Orthwein served on the Boards of Trustees of the Boy Scouts of America, the Missouri Historical Society, the United Fund (now the United Way), and St. Luke's Hospital. He also endowed the William R. Orthwein chair at the Washington University School of Law.