Otto N. "Nick" Frenzel III was a former banking executive from 1956 until 1995. He was also a co-owner, secretary, and treasurer of the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

from 1975 until 1977.

Career

Banking

He was a 1954 graduate of the Wharton School of Business,

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and served two years in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

. Frenzel obtained the rank of 1st Lieutenant (O-2) before his release in 1956. He started his career in banking at Merchants National Bank and Trust Company in

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

in 1956 and was elected to the board in 1964. He later became president of the company in 1970 and chairman of the board in 1972. Otto was the sixth member of his family to serve as the Merchant's chief executive. He was elected chairman of the Merchants National Corporation (parent company of Merchants National Bank) in 1979 and was also elected chairman of the board of National City Bank of Indiana in 1992, serving in the role until his retirement in 1995.

Franchise owner

Frenzel, along with

Wren Blair Wren Alvin Blair (October 2, 1925January 2, 2013) was a Canadian ice hockey coach, scout and executive in the National Hockey League. Biography Early life Blair was born in Lindsay, Ontario, the son of Audrey and Alvin Blair. The family moved t ...

and

Al Savill Albert A. Savill (February 3, 1917 – August 7, 1989) was a mortgage banker, real estate developer and an owner of the Radisson Plaza Hotel Orlando. Career Savill was born on February 3, 1917, in London but spent his childhood in Boston. He st ...

, was briefly co-owner, secretary, and treasurer of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

. The group had purchased the bankrupt team from the league for $3.8 million. Upon becoming owner of the Penguins, he dissolved the farm system to save money and was forced to trade draft picks to keep the team marginally competitive. Savill and Frenzel remained co-owners of the team for two seasons, eventually selling the team was sold to local shopping mall developer

Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. Edward John DeBartolo Sr. (May 17, 1909 – December 19, 1994) was an American businessman. In 1971, his Ohio-based corporation was ranked as 47th among the nation's top 400 construction contractors. In 1983, DeBartolo was included on ''For ...

in February 1977.

Death

Frenzel died on December 24, 2010. He was 80 years old.

References

United States Air Force officers Pittsburgh Penguins owners Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni American bankers 1930 births 2010 deaths {{US-business-bio-stub