Paul G. Blazer,
Ashland Oil's
Founder, Dies
Paul G. Blazer, who built Ashland Oil and Refining Co. into one of the nation's major corporations, died yesterday of a heart condition at a Phoenix, Ariz. hospital, near his winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 76.
Blazer was president of the oil firm 33 years, then served as chairman of the board. He currently was chairman of the firm's finance committee.
He first came to Kentucky in 1919 to develop the Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington, beginning a career in which his role as a friend and benefactor of education ran parallel to his business leadership.
His and his family's activities and donations won him a wide range of honors from academic institutions. The four-year-old Paul G. Blazer Senior High School at Ashland was named in his honor, and a women's dormitory at the University of Kentucky bears the name of his wife, Georgia, a UK trustee from 1939 to 1960.
His alma mater, the University of Chicago, gave him its top alumni award, the Useful Citizen citation.
Three Honors From UK.
Blazer was awarded UK's Sullivan Medallion in 1948; UK honorary LL.D. degree, 1952, and UK Centennial Medallion last year as one of the persons who contributed most to UK's progress.
Other honorary degrees were from Cenytr College, 1950; Marshall College, Huntington. W. V. 1958 and Pikeville College, 1959.
He was the Kentucky Press Association's Man of the Year in 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. Blazer endowed UK's Blazer Lecture Series in 1948 and still support it. It brings to campus "distinguished" lecturers in history and social science.
The Blazers established the Blazer Foundation in memory of a son who was killed in Korea. The foundation has donated 11 sites for Kentucky's ETV network.
In his direction of company affairs, Blazer emphasized flexibility -- a concept encompassing marketing, financial, personnel, organizational, and technological matters -- and noted that throughout its growth, Ashland Oil was a marketing oriented firm. He was quoted shortly after the company's formation as asserting that a 5,000-barrel-a-day refinery should be supported by a10,000-barrel-a-day sales department.
A Start in 1924
Blazer and a group of Lexington men founded the oil company in 1924, but it was Blazer who was credited with forging it into one of America's 150 largest corporations.
The original Ashland Refining Co. was capitalized with assets of $250,000. It now has assets of almost $400 million.
The firm's home office is at Ashland and its largest refinery is at Leach near Catlettsburg. Its hydrodealkylation plant there, which produces naphthalene, benzene and tuolene, was the first petroleum facility in America to produce naphthalene profitably in commercial quantities.
Since it was founded, Ashland, under Blazer's leadership, has acquired 75 other companies, including Aetna Oil Co. and Louisville Refining Co., both of Louisville, and tire, boat, chemical and plastics firms all over the country.
Blazer, a native of New Austin, Ill., started working at 15 for his father, a weekly newspaper editor. Young Blazer began his own mail-order magazine agency and at 19 a Philadelphia publishing company hired him as manager of its student subscription solicitors.
As a student at the University of Chicago, where he was graduated in 1917, Blazer carried on his subscription business, played football and was active in campus affairs.
He married Georgia Monroe upon graduation. Then served 18 months in the Army.
He entered the oil business as advertising manager of the Great Northern Refining Co. in Chicago. Then he helped organize Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington and served as its sales manager and vice-president. He then became president of Swiss Oil Corp. and subsequently helped found the Ashland firm.
Led in Charter Efforts
Blazer was known for his ability to turn a money-losing venture into a profitable one in a few months. He relied on direct competition with major oil companies rather than on legal tactics.
He had served as president of the National Waterways Conference and was a member of the National Petroleum Council and a director of the American Petroleum Institute.
During World War II, he served on the Petroleum Industry War Council. He was former chairman of the board of the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
The Newcomen Society, an exclusive business group, honored him in 1956 at a dinner in Lexington. Blazer was a leader in founding Ashland Community College, was chairman of a 1948 campaign for revision of Kentucky's constitution and was a member of the recent Constitution Revision Assembly.
UK President Dr. John W. Oswald said "The university, the cause of education and the Commonwealth have lost a strong friend" in the death of Blazer. "Our world, however, is a better one for his being among us and giving of his time, talent and leadership to the problems of the day," Oswald said. "His contributions to the university are almost endless."
Sen. John Sherman Cooper commented, "Paul Blazer's death is a great loss to Ashland and to the entire state of Kentucky. It is also a loss to his hundreds and thousands of friends in Kentucky and to those who worked for him at Ashland Oil. He was a wonderful man and his death will be deeply felt in every phase of life."
Survivors besides Blazer's widow, are a son, Paul, manager of new products development for Ashland Oil; a daughter, Mrs. Clyde Webb, Louisville, who was in Scottsdale with him and 10 grandchildren. A nephew, Rexford S. Blazer, is Ashland Oil board chairman.
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Ky
Saturday, December 10, 1966, p. 1 & 16
.
Ashland Oil's
Founder, Dies
Paul G. Blazer, who built Ashland Oil and Refining Co. into one of the nation's major corporations, died yesterday of a heart condition at a Phoenix, Ariz. hospital, near his winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 76.
Blazer was president of the oil firm 33 years, then served as chairman of the board. He currently was chairman of the firm's finance committee.
He first came to Kentucky in 1919 to develop the Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington, beginning a career in which his role as a friend and benefactor of education ran parallel to his business leadership.
His and his family's activities and donations won him a wide range of honors from academic institutions. The four-year-old Paul G. Blazer Senior High School at Ashland was named in his honor, and a women's dormitory at the University of Kentucky bears the name of his wife, Georgia, a UK trustee from 1939 to 1960.
His alma mater, the University of Chicago, gave him its top alumni award, the Useful Citizen citation.
Three Honors From UK.
Blazer was awarded UK's Sullivan Medallion in 1948; UK honorary LL.D. degree, 1952, and UK Centennial Medallion last year as one of the persons who contributed most to UK's progress.
Other honorary degrees were from Cenytr College, 1950; Marshall College, Huntington. W. V. 1958 and Pikeville College, 1959.
He was the Kentucky Press Association's Man of the Year in 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. Blazer endowed UK's Blazer Lecture Series in 1948 and still support it. It brings to campus "distinguished" lecturers in history and social science.
The Blazers established the Blazer Foundation in memory of a son who was killed in Korea. The foundation has donated 11 sites for Kentucky's ETV network.
In his direction of company affairs, Blazer emphasized flexibility -- a concept encompassing marketing, financial, personnel, organizational, and technological matters -- and noted that throughout its growth, Ashland Oil was a marketing oriented firm. He was quoted shortly after the company's formation as asserting that a 5,000-barrel-a-day refinery should be supported by a10,000-barrel-a-day sales department.
A Start in 1924
Blazer and a group of Lexington men founded the oil company in 1924, but it was Blazer who was credited with forging it into one of America's 150 largest corporations.
The original Ashland Refining Co. was capitalized with assets of $250,000. It now has assets of almost $400 million.
The firm's home office is at Ashland and its largest refinery is at Leach near Catlettsburg. Its hydrodealkylation plant there, which produces naphthalene, benzene and tuolene, was the first petroleum facility in America to produce naphthalene profitably in commercial quantities.
Since it was founded, Ashland, under Blazer's leadership, has acquired 75 other companies, including Aetna Oil Co. and Louisville Refining Co., both of Louisville, and tire, boat, chemical and plastics firms all over the country.
Blazer, a native of New Austin, Ill., started working at 15 for his father, a weekly newspaper editor. Young Blazer began his own mail-order magazine agency and at 19 a Philadelphia publishing company hired him as manager of its student subscription solicitors.
As a student at the University of Chicago, where he was graduated in 1917, Blazer carried on his subscription business, played football and was active in campus affairs.
He married Georgia Monroe upon graduation. Then served 18 months in the Army.
He entered the oil business as advertising manager of the Great Northern Refining Co. in Chicago. Then he helped organize Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington and served as its sales manager and vice-president. He then became president of Swiss Oil Corp. and subsequently helped found the Ashland firm.
Led in Charter Efforts
Blazer was known for his ability to turn a money-losing venture into a profitable one in a few months. He relied on direct competition with major oil companies rather than on legal tactics.
He had served as president of the National Waterways Conference and was a member of the National Petroleum Council and a director of the American Petroleum Institute.
During World War II, he served on the Petroleum Industry War Council. He was former chairman of the board of the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
The Newcomen Society, an exclusive business group, honored him in 1956 at a dinner in Lexington. Blazer was a leader in founding Ashland Community College, was chairman of a 1948 campaign for revision of Kentucky's constitution and was a member of the recent Constitution Revision Assembly.
UK President Dr. John W. Oswald said "The university, the cause of education and the Commonwealth have lost a strong friend" in the death of Blazer. "Our world, however, is a better one for his being among us and giving of his time, talent and leadership to the problems of the day," Oswald said. "His contributions to the university are almost endless."
Sen. John Sherman Cooper commented, "Paul Blazer's death is a great loss to Ashland and to the entire state of Kentucky. It is also a loss to his hundreds and thousands of friends in Kentucky and to those who worked for him at Ashland Oil. He was a wonderful man and his death will be deeply felt in every phase of life."
Survivors besides Blazer's widow, are a son, Paul, manager of new products development for Ashland Oil; a daughter, Mrs. Clyde Webb, Louisville, who was in Scottsdale with him and 10 grandchildren. A nephew, Rexford S. Blazer, is Ashland Oil board chairman.
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Ky
Saturday, December 10, 1966, p. 1 & 16
.
Paul G. Blazer,
Ashland Oil's
Founder, Dies
Paul G. Blazer, who built Ashland Oil and Refining Co. into one of the nation's major corporations, died yesterday of a heart condition at a Phoenix, Ariz. hospital, near his winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 76.
Blazer was president of the oil firm 33 years, then served as chairman of the board. He currently was chairman of the firm's finance committee.
He first came to Kentucky in 1919 to develop the Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington, beginning a career in which his role as a friend and benefactor of education ran parallel to his business leadership.
His and his family's activities and donations won him a wide range of honors from academic institutions. The four-year-old Paul G. Blazer Senior High School at Ashland was named in his honor, and a women's dormitory at the University of Kentucky bears the name of his wife, Georgia, a UK trustee from 1939 to 1960.
His alma mater, the University of Chicago, gave him its top alumni award, the Useful Citizen citation.
Three Honors From UK.
Blazer was awarded UK's Sullivan Medallion in 1948; UK honorary LL.D. degree, 1952, and UK Centennial Medallion last year as one of the persons who contributed most to UK's progress.
Other honorary degrees were from Cenytr College, 1950; Marshall College, Huntington. W. V. 1958 and Pikeville College, 1959.
He was the Kentucky Press Association's Man of the Year in 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. Blazer endowed UK's Blazer Lecture Series in 1948 and still support it. It brings to campus "distinguished" lecturers in history and social science.
The Blazers established the Blazer Foundation in memory of a son who was killed in Korea. The foundation has donated 11 sites for Kentucky's ETV network.
In his direction of company affairs, Blazer emphasized flexibility -- a concept encompassing marketing, financial, personnel, organizational, and technological matters -- and noted that throughout its growth, Ashland Oil was a marketing oriented firm. He was quoted shortly after the company's formation as asserting that a 5,000-barrel-a-day refinery should be supported by a10,000-barrel-a-day sales department.
A Start in 1924
Blazer and a group of Lexington men founded the oil company in 1924, but it was Blazer who was credited with forging it into one of America's 150 largest corporations.
The original Ashland Refining Co. was capitalized with assets of $250,000. It now has assets of almost $400 million.
The firm's home office is at Ashland and its largest refinery is at Leach near Catlettsburg. Its hydrodealkylation plant there, which produces naphthalene, benzene and tuolene, was the first petroleum facility in America to produce naphthalene profitably in commercial quantities.
Since it was founded, Ashland, under Blazer's leadership, has acquired 75 other companies, including Aetna Oil Co. and Louisville Refining Co., both of Louisville, and tire, boat, chemical and plastics firms all over the country.
Blazer, a native of New Austin, Ill., started working at 15 for his father, a weekly newspaper editor. Young Blazer began his own mail-order magazine agency and at 19 a Philadelphia publishing company hired him as manager of its student subscription solicitors.
As a student at the University of Chicago, where he was graduated in 1917, Blazer carried on his subscription business, played football and was active in campus affairs.
He married Georgia Monroe upon graduation. Then served 18 months in the Army.
He entered the oil business as advertising manager of the Great Northern Refining Co. in Chicago. Then he helped organize Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington and served as its sales manager and vice-president. He then became president of Swiss Oil Corp. and subsequently helped found the Ashland firm.
Led in Charter Efforts
Blazer was known for his ability to turn a money-losing venture into a profitable one in a few months. He relied on direct competition with major oil companies rather than on legal tactics.
He had served as president of the National Waterways Conference and was a member of the National Petroleum Council and a director of the American Petroleum Institute.
During World War II, he served on the Petroleum Industry War Council. He was former chairman of the board of the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
The Newcomen Society, an exclusive business group, honored him in 1956 at a dinner in Lexington. Blazer was a leader in founding Ashland Community College, was chairman of a 1948 campaign for revision of Kentucky's constitution and was a member of the recent Constitution Revision Assembly.
UK President Dr. John W. Oswald said "The university, the cause of education and the Commonwealth have lost a strong friend" in the death of Blazer. "Our world, however, is a better one for his being among us and giving of his time, talent and leadership to the problems of the day," Oswald said. "His contributions to the university are almost endless."
Sen. John Sherman Cooper commented, "Paul Blazer's death is a great loss to Ashland and to the entire state of Kentucky. It is also a loss to his hundreds and thousands of friends in Kentucky and to those who worked for him at Ashland Oil. He was a wonderful man and his death will be deeply felt in every phase of life."
Survivors besides Blazer's widow, are a son, Paul, manager of new products development for Ashland Oil; a daughter, Mrs. Clyde Webb, Louisville, who was in Scottsdale with him and 10 grandchildren. A nephew, Rexford S. Blazer, is Ashland Oil board chairman.
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Ky
Saturday, December 10, 1966, p. 1 & 16
.
Ashland Oil's
Founder, Dies
Paul G. Blazer, who built Ashland Oil and Refining Co. into one of the nation's major corporations, died yesterday of a heart condition at a Phoenix, Ariz. hospital, near his winter home in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 76.
Blazer was president of the oil firm 33 years, then served as chairman of the board. He currently was chairman of the firm's finance committee.
He first came to Kentucky in 1919 to develop the Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington, beginning a career in which his role as a friend and benefactor of education ran parallel to his business leadership.
His and his family's activities and donations won him a wide range of honors from academic institutions. The four-year-old Paul G. Blazer Senior High School at Ashland was named in his honor, and a women's dormitory at the University of Kentucky bears the name of his wife, Georgia, a UK trustee from 1939 to 1960.
His alma mater, the University of Chicago, gave him its top alumni award, the Useful Citizen citation.
Three Honors From UK.
Blazer was awarded UK's Sullivan Medallion in 1948; UK honorary LL.D. degree, 1952, and UK Centennial Medallion last year as one of the persons who contributed most to UK's progress.
Other honorary degrees were from Cenytr College, 1950; Marshall College, Huntington. W. V. 1958 and Pikeville College, 1959.
He was the Kentucky Press Association's Man of the Year in 1954.
Mr. and Mrs. Blazer endowed UK's Blazer Lecture Series in 1948 and still support it. It brings to campus "distinguished" lecturers in history and social science.
The Blazers established the Blazer Foundation in memory of a son who was killed in Korea. The foundation has donated 11 sites for Kentucky's ETV network.
In his direction of company affairs, Blazer emphasized flexibility -- a concept encompassing marketing, financial, personnel, organizational, and technological matters -- and noted that throughout its growth, Ashland Oil was a marketing oriented firm. He was quoted shortly after the company's formation as asserting that a 5,000-barrel-a-day refinery should be supported by a10,000-barrel-a-day sales department.
A Start in 1924
Blazer and a group of Lexington men founded the oil company in 1924, but it was Blazer who was credited with forging it into one of America's 150 largest corporations.
The original Ashland Refining Co. was capitalized with assets of $250,000. It now has assets of almost $400 million.
The firm's home office is at Ashland and its largest refinery is at Leach near Catlettsburg. Its hydrodealkylation plant there, which produces naphthalene, benzene and tuolene, was the first petroleum facility in America to produce naphthalene profitably in commercial quantities.
Since it was founded, Ashland, under Blazer's leadership, has acquired 75 other companies, including Aetna Oil Co. and Louisville Refining Co., both of Louisville, and tire, boat, chemical and plastics firms all over the country.
Blazer, a native of New Austin, Ill., started working at 15 for his father, a weekly newspaper editor. Young Blazer began his own mail-order magazine agency and at 19 a Philadelphia publishing company hired him as manager of its student subscription solicitors.
As a student at the University of Chicago, where he was graduated in 1917, Blazer carried on his subscription business, played football and was active in campus affairs.
He married Georgia Monroe upon graduation. Then served 18 months in the Army.
He entered the oil business as advertising manager of the Great Northern Refining Co. in Chicago. Then he helped organize Great Southern Refining Co. in Lexington and served as its sales manager and vice-president. He then became president of Swiss Oil Corp. and subsequently helped found the Ashland firm.
Led in Charter Efforts
Blazer was known for his ability to turn a money-losing venture into a profitable one in a few months. He relied on direct competition with major oil companies rather than on legal tactics.
He had served as president of the National Waterways Conference and was a member of the National Petroleum Council and a director of the American Petroleum Institute.
During World War II, he served on the Petroleum Industry War Council. He was former chairman of the board of the Cincinnati branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
The Newcomen Society, an exclusive business group, honored him in 1956 at a dinner in Lexington. Blazer was a leader in founding Ashland Community College, was chairman of a 1948 campaign for revision of Kentucky's constitution and was a member of the recent Constitution Revision Assembly.
UK President Dr. John W. Oswald said "The university, the cause of education and the Commonwealth have lost a strong friend" in the death of Blazer. "Our world, however, is a better one for his being among us and giving of his time, talent and leadership to the problems of the day," Oswald said. "His contributions to the university are almost endless."
Sen. John Sherman Cooper commented, "Paul Blazer's death is a great loss to Ashland and to the entire state of Kentucky. It is also a loss to his hundreds and thousands of friends in Kentucky and to those who worked for him at Ashland Oil. He was a wonderful man and his death will be deeply felt in every phase of life."
Survivors besides Blazer's widow, are a son, Paul, manager of new products development for Ashland Oil; a daughter, Mrs. Clyde Webb, Louisville, who was in Scottsdale with him and 10 grandchildren. A nephew, Rexford S. Blazer, is Ashland Oil board chairman.
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Ky
Saturday, December 10, 1966, p. 1 & 16
.
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