Harry Wesley Bass Jr. (January 6, 1927 – April 4, 1998), was an American

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

man, coin collector, and philanthropist. He was active in the

Texas Republican Party The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the state of Texas. It is currently chaired by Matt Rinaldi, succeeding Allen West who resigned prior to the expiration of his term to run for governo ...

during the late 1950s when the state was still dominated by the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. In 1970, Bass and his brother

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

inherited the Goliad Oil and Gas Corporation. Bass invested in

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s in

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

and

Vail Vail is a home rule municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,835 in 2020. Home to Vail Ski Resort, the largest ski mountain in Colorado, the town is known for its hotels, dining, and for the numero ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. He was the main developer of the

Beaver Creek Resort Beaver Creek Resort is a major ski resort in the western United States, near Avon, Colorado. The resort comprises three villages, the main Beaver Creek Village, Bachelor Gulch, and Arrowhead to the west. The resort is owned and operated by ...

in Beaver Creek. He also amassed one of the world's great coin collections and served as the president of the

American Numismatic Society The American Numismatic Society (ANS) is a New York City-based organization dedicated to the study of coins, money, medals, tokens, and related objects. Founded in 1858, it is the only American museum devoted exclusively to their preservation ...

Early life

Bass was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. His father,

Harry W. Bass Sr. Harry Wesley Bass (April 9, 1895 – February 18, 1970) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Trained as a banker, he became an oil and gas explorer in the wake of the Texas oil boom and developed the A-frame derrick. He was the fou ...

, was a co-founder of the Goliad Corporation and the Goliad Oil and Gas Corporation in Duncanville, near

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. He had a brother,

Richard Bass Richard Daniel "Dick" Bass (December 21, 1929 – July 26, 2015) was an American businessman, rancher and mountaineer. He was the owner of Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and the first man to climb the "Seven Summits", the tallest mountain on each con ...

. Bass was educated at the

St. Mark's School of Texas The St. Mark's School of Texas is a nonsectarian preparatory day school for boys in grades 1–12 in Dallas, Texas, United States, accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest. History St. Mark's traces its origins to the T ...

, then known as the Texas Country Day School. He attended

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in the South Pacific with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Career

Bass started his career in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, Canada for his father's oil and gas companies. Bass launched a voter data-collection company and served as the finance chairman of the Republican Party of

Dallas County Dallas County may refer to: Places in the USA: * Dallas County, Alabama, founded in 1818, the first county in the United States by that name * Dallas County, Arkansas * Dallas County, Iowa * Dallas County, Missouri * Dallas County, Texas, the nint ...

in the late 1950s. The company proved to be a financial failure. He was elected chairman of the Dallas County GOP in 1957, but resigned later that year. By 1960, alongside Republican

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Bruce Alger Bruce Reynolds Alger (June 12, 1918 – April 13, 2015) was an American politician, real estate agent and developer, and a Republican U.S. representative from Texas, the first to have represented a Dallas district since Reconstruction. He served ...

Texas's 5th congressional district Texas's 5th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in an area that includes a northeast portion of the City of Dallas, Dallas County including Mesquite plus a number of smaller suburban, exurban and rural counti ...

, he staged a demonstration against Democratic

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

(later President)

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

when the latter visited Dallas. He was a delegate to the

1964 Republican National Convention The 1964 Republican National Convention took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Conven ...

. Bass co-owned H. W. Bass and Sons, a private company headquartered in Dallas. He also invested in the development of ski resorts in Aspen, Colorado, in 1955. Later, he owned 7 percent of the Aspen Ski Corporation with his brother. He invested in the development of Vail and became majority shareholder of Vail Associates, Inc., with 57 percent in 1978. He served as its chairman by 1979. He expanded his holdings to include Beaver Creek Resort.

Numismatics and philanthropy

Bass began collecting coins in the middle 1960s. He regularly attended coin auctions. By 1976, he had invested "millions of dollars" in coins. He added that he had 25 per cent of my portfolio in coins," mostly of which were

gold coin A gold coin is a coin that is made mostly or entirely of gold. Most gold coins minted since 1800 are 90–92% gold (22karat), while most of today's gold bullion coins are pure gold, such as the Britannia, Canadian Maple Leaf, and American Buffa ...

s from the 19th century to 1933. They were held in a trust. He became a member of the

in 1966. By 1979, he was its president. Bass founded the Harry W. Bass Jr. Research Foundation in 1991. One of its goals was to support numismatics.

Personal life

Bass married Mary Mathewson in 1947. He later married Doris Wampler Calhoun.

Death and legacy

Bass died on April 4, 1998 in Dallas and is interred at the

Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery is a multi-faith cemetery located at 7405 West Northwest Highway in North Dallas, Texas ( USA). It is owned by Service Corporation International. Among the notable persons interred here are: *Mary Kay Ash ( ...

. Shortly after his death, the Harry W. Bass Jr. Research Foundation was merged with his late father's philanthropic foundation, the Harry Bass Foundation, to form the Harry W. Bass Jr. Foundation. The endowment comes from oil investments as well as the proceeds from auctions of his coin collection. For example, thirty coins from his collection were auctioned in 2014 in Dallas.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Harry W. Jr. 1927 births 1998 deaths Businesspeople from Oklahoma City People from Dallas People from Aspen, Colorado People from Eagle County, Colorado Southern Methodist University alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II Businesspeople from Texas American businesspeople in the oil industry Philanthropists from Texas Texas Republicans Burials at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople American expatriates in Canada