His obituary-
JOHN M. OLIN, EXECUTIVE AND PHILANTHROPIST, DIES
John Merrill Olin, honorary chairman of the Olin Corporation and a noted conservationist, philanthropist and inventor, died Wednesday at his home in East Hampton, L.I. He was 89 years old.
Mr. Olin was the son of Franklin W. Olin, the founder of one of the companies that became the Olin Corporation, a large, diversified manufacturing concern.
He had been a director of Olin and its predecessors since 1922. He was named president of Olin Industries when it was formed in 1944 and, when Olin merged with the Mathieson Chemical Corporation in 1954, he was elected chairman of the combined Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation.
Mr. Olin remained chairman until 1957, then held the posts of chairman of the executive committee and the finance and operating committees. In 1963, he was named honorary chairman of the board. Breeder of Horses and Dogs
But his activities ranged far beyond business, and he achieved notable successes in all of them. He was a breeder of saddle and thoroughbred race horses and one, Cannonade, earned more than $500,000 in purses and won the Kentucky Derby in 1974. He also raised champion-class Labrador retrievers. King Buck, one of his Labradors, was the breed's national champion in 1952 and 1953.
Mr. Olin was also a tireless promoter of free enterprise and the capitalist system, and in their behalf he founded in 1953 the John M. Olin Foundation, which provided support for the economic, political and philosophical principles on which he believed American capitalism rested. By 1977, the foundation's grants reached $1 million a year.
''My greatest ambition now,'' he said in an interview in 1977, ''is to see free enterprise re-established in this country. Business and the public must be awakened to the creeping stranglehold that socialism has gained here since World War II.''
Also in 1977, Mr. Olin chose former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon to succeed him as president of the foundation ''because his fundamental thinking and philosophy are almost identical with mine.'' 24 Patented Inventions
Mr. Olin was also the inventor or co-inventor of 24 United States patents in the fields of arms and ammunition manufacture and design. An ardent sportsman, Mr. Olin was also a longtime supporter of nature and wildlife conservation. He was especially noted for his efforts to preserve the Atlantic salmon.
Mr. Olin was born on Nov. 10, 1892, in East Alton, Ill., the son of Franklin Olin and the former Mary Moulton. He received a B.S. degree from Cornell University in 1913 and then went to work as a chemical engineer for the Western Cartridge Company, which had been founded by his father and his brother, Spencer.
He was an assistant to the president and then a first vice president and a director of Western Cartridge until he was named president of Olin Industries, a consolidation of Western Cartridge, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and an earlier Olin Corporation.
Olin's main products now are chemicals, metals and industrial papers, as well as such consumer products as sporting ammunition and skis and commercial water treatment chemicals. Received Many Honors
Mr. Olin was a trustee emeritus of Cornell and of Johns Hopkins University, a life trustee of Washington University in St. Louis and an honorary director of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
In 1968 he was given the Charles F. Kettering award by George Washington University. He was also awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by France and the Grand Ufficiale-Ordine al Merito by Italy. He was named to the Hunting Hall of Fame in 1974.
In addition to his home in East Hampton, Mr. Olin had an apartment in Manhattan, a residence in Ladue, Mo., and a hunting plantation near Albany, Ga.
Mr. Olin is survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Brown; a daughter, Evelyn Williams, of St. Louis; his brother, Spencer, of St. Louis; eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 A.M. Monday at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ladue, Mo.
His obituary-
JOHN M. OLIN, EXECUTIVE AND PHILANTHROPIST, DIES
John Merrill Olin, honorary chairman of the Olin Corporation and a noted conservationist, philanthropist and inventor, died Wednesday at his home in East Hampton, L.I. He was 89 years old.
Mr. Olin was the son of Franklin W. Olin, the founder of one of the companies that became the Olin Corporation, a large, diversified manufacturing concern.
He had been a director of Olin and its predecessors since 1922. He was named president of Olin Industries when it was formed in 1944 and, when Olin merged with the Mathieson Chemical Corporation in 1954, he was elected chairman of the combined Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation.
Mr. Olin remained chairman until 1957, then held the posts of chairman of the executive committee and the finance and operating committees. In 1963, he was named honorary chairman of the board. Breeder of Horses and Dogs
But his activities ranged far beyond business, and he achieved notable successes in all of them. He was a breeder of saddle and thoroughbred race horses and one, Cannonade, earned more than $500,000 in purses and won the Kentucky Derby in 1974. He also raised champion-class Labrador retrievers. King Buck, one of his Labradors, was the breed's national champion in 1952 and 1953.
Mr. Olin was also a tireless promoter of free enterprise and the capitalist system, and in their behalf he founded in 1953 the John M. Olin Foundation, which provided support for the economic, political and philosophical principles on which he believed American capitalism rested. By 1977, the foundation's grants reached $1 million a year.
''My greatest ambition now,'' he said in an interview in 1977, ''is to see free enterprise re-established in this country. Business and the public must be awakened to the creeping stranglehold that socialism has gained here since World War II.''
Also in 1977, Mr. Olin chose former Treasury Secretary William E. Simon to succeed him as president of the foundation ''because his fundamental thinking and philosophy are almost identical with mine.'' 24 Patented Inventions
Mr. Olin was also the inventor or co-inventor of 24 United States patents in the fields of arms and ammunition manufacture and design. An ardent sportsman, Mr. Olin was also a longtime supporter of nature and wildlife conservation. He was especially noted for his efforts to preserve the Atlantic salmon.
Mr. Olin was born on Nov. 10, 1892, in East Alton, Ill., the son of Franklin Olin and the former Mary Moulton. He received a B.S. degree from Cornell University in 1913 and then went to work as a chemical engineer for the Western Cartridge Company, which had been founded by his father and his brother, Spencer.
He was an assistant to the president and then a first vice president and a director of Western Cartridge until he was named president of Olin Industries, a consolidation of Western Cartridge, the Winchester Repeating Arms Company and an earlier Olin Corporation.
Olin's main products now are chemicals, metals and industrial papers, as well as such consumer products as sporting ammunition and skis and commercial water treatment chemicals. Received Many Honors
Mr. Olin was a trustee emeritus of Cornell and of Johns Hopkins University, a life trustee of Washington University in St. Louis and an honorary director of the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
In 1968 he was given the Charles F. Kettering award by George Washington University. He was also awarded the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur by France and the Grand Ufficiale-Ordine al Merito by Italy. He was named to the Hunting Hall of Fame in 1974.
In addition to his home in East Hampton, Mr. Olin had an apartment in Manhattan, a residence in Ladue, Mo., and a hunting plantation near Albany, Ga.
Mr. Olin is survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Brown; a daughter, Evelyn Williams, of St. Louis; his brother, Spencer, of St. Louis; eight grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 11 A.M. Monday at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Ladue, Mo.
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