Richard E. "Dick" Jacobs (June 16, 1925 – June 5, 2009) was an American businessman and real estate developer who co-founded the

Jacobs Entertainment Jacobs Entertainment, Inc. is a Gaming, Hospitality, and Entertainment company based in Golden, Colorado. History The company was formed by Cleveland real estate developer and former Ohio state representative Jeffrey Jacobs. In 1995, it announ ...

, Richard E. Jacobs Group, and owner of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

from 1986-1999.

Biography

Jacobs was born in 1925 in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

Hevesi, Dennis
"Richard E. Jacobs, Former Owner of Cleveland Indians, Dies at 83"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 6 June 2009 In 1943, he served in the Army 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 ...

. In 1949, he graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

with a degree in business administration and accepted a job with a development company in Akron. In 1955, he and his brother, David H. Jacobs, started a general contracting company that concentrated on the building of small strip malls. The company grew rapidly and by 1992, the Jacobs Group ranked fourth in the nation in the development and management of enclosed malls owning 40 malls in 16 states outright; they also owned 31 Wendy's fast-food restaurants and several

Marriott Hotels & Resorts Marriott Hotels & Resorts is Marriott International's brand of full-service hotels and resorts based in Bethesda, Maryland. As of June 30, 2020, there were 582 hotels and resorts with 205,053 rooms operating under the brand, in addition to 16 ...

. The Jacobs Group company builds and leases

shopping center A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

s, offices, and hotels. Among its properties are

Key Tower Key Tower is a skyscraper on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. Designed by architect César Pelli, it is the tallest building in the state of Ohio, the 39th-tallest in the United States, and the 165th-tallest in the world. The buildi ...

and Westgate Mall in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and

Triangle Town Center Triangle Town Center is a shopping mall in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is located in North Raleigh off U.S. Highway 1 (Capital Boulevard) and Interstate 540. The current anchors at the mall are Belk, Dillard's, Macy's, and Saks Fifth Avenue. A ...

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

. His company also built Westland Mall,

Northland Mall Northland Mall was a shopping mall located on the north side of Columbus, Ohio, at the intersection of Morse Road and Karl Road. It opened in 1964 as an open-air shopping center. Northland was the first of the four directionally-named shopping ...

, and Eastland Mall in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Along with his brother, Jacobs was also well known for owning the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) from 1986 to 1999. The Jacobs built and opened

Jacobs Field {{Infobox stadium , name = Progressive Field , nickname = ''"The Jake"'' , logo_image = Progressive_Field_Logo.svg , logo_caption = , image = , caption = Progressive Fiel ...

in 1994. The ballpark bore his family name from its opening in 1994 until early 2008. Jacobs' tenure as Indians owner marked one of the team's most successful periods in franchise history the team went 1119-1080 during the regular season, and 25-22 during the postseason, having reached the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

on two occasions (

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, and 1997), and winning

American League Central Division The American League Central is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. This division was formed in the realignment of 1994 by moving three teams from the American League West and two teams from the American League East. Its teams are all loc ...

championships in five consecutive seasons (1995-1999). Under Jacobs ownership the Indians also hosted the 1997

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

. Jacobs was a co-owner with his son, Jeffrey Jacobs, of

, a casino and racetrack company after they merged companies in 2002.

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

's Richard E. Jacobs Health Center in

Avon, Ohio Avon ( ) is a city in northeastern Lorain County, Ohio, United States. The population was 24,847 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. History In the 17th century, what is now Avon, Avon Lake, Bay Village, and Wes ...

bears his name. Jacobs died on June 5, 2009 after a long illness at his Westlake home. The funeral was held at the Rocky River United Methodist Church.Cleveland plain Dealer: "Quiet leader saved Indians: Richard Jacobs, 1925-2009" by Bill Lubinger
June 06, 2009 He was buried at Lakewood Park Cemetery in Rocky River, Ohio.

Awards and honors

As Indians owner

*Two-time American League Champion

, 1997 *Five-time

Champion (

, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999) *

Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame This is a list of award winners and league leaders for the Cleveland Guardians of Major League Baseball. Awards Most Valuable Player *George Burns (1926) * Lou Boudreau (1948) *Al Rosen (1953) Cy Young *Gaylord Perry (1972) *CC Sabathia (2007 ...

(class of 2009)

As a businessman

*2009

Downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out b ...

Alliance Ruth Ratner Miller Award (for his contributions in developing the downtown area - awarded posthumously)Jacobs wins award - Cleveland.com
/ref>

References

External links

The Richard E. Jacobs Group

Encyclopedia of Cleveland article about Richard's brother David and the Jacobs Group
* Ocker, Sheldon

'' Akron Beacon Journal'', 5 June 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Richard 1925 births 2009 deaths American chief executives American real estate businesspeople American United Methodists Major League Baseball executives Cleveland Indians executives Cleveland Indians owners Businesspeople from Cleveland Burials at Lakewood Park Cemetery 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Methodists