Benedict I. Lubell (1909 – December 13, 1996) was an American oil executive and philanthropist.

Biography

Lubell was born to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. His father Samuel L. Lubell founded the Bell Oil and Gas Company, an independent oil refiner in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

and Lubell Brothers, a shirt manufacturer in New York City. He had two sisters: art dealer

Grace Borgenicht Brandt Grace Borgenicht Brandt (January 25, 1915 – July 19, 2001) was an American art dealer. Biography She was born Grace Lubell on January 25, 1915 to a Jewish family in New York City. Her father Samuel L. Lubell founded the Bell Oil and Gas C ...

(formerly married to Jack Borgenicht) and Shirley Black Kash (formerly married to

Eli M. Black Eli M. Black (April 9, 1921 – February 3, 1975) was an American businessman. He controlled the United Brands Company. His son Leon Black is a founding member of private equity firm Apollo Management. Early life and education Born Elihu Menash ...

). He was a graduate of Columbia College,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

, and

Columbia University Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestig ...

. After school, he practiced law in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

at ''

Stroock & Stroock & Lavan Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP (known as Stroock) is an American law firm based in New York City, with offices also in Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington, DC. Stroock provides transactional and litigation guidance to multinational corporations, ...

'' until 1936, when he joined the family business in Tulsa. In 1965, the family sold Bell Oil and Lubell formed a new oil production company, the Lubell Oil Company, where he worked until his retirement in 1995. Lubell was a founding trustee of the

Tulsa Performing Arts Center The Tulsa Performing Arts Center, or Tulsa PAC, is a performing arts venue in the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It houses four main theatres, a studio space, an art galleryNational Bank of Tulsa. In 1982, he received the Oklahoma Governor's Arts Award. Lubell Park in Tulsa is named in his honor.

Personal life

In 1939, he married Norma Rubenstein (died 1994), daughter of New York textile executive Jacob A. Rubenstein. They had two children, Ann Lubell Margolis and John Lubell. Lubell died at his home in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

. Services were held at Temple Israel in Tulsa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lubell, Benedict I. 1909 births 1996 deaths 20th-century American Jews American company founders American businesspeople in the oil industry 20th-century philanthropists Lawyers from New York City Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma Columbia College (New York) alumni 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers