Stewart William Bainum Sr. (1919–2014) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of

Choice Hotels Choice Hotels International, Inc. is an American multinational hospitality company based in Rockville, Maryland. The company, which is one of the largest hotel chains in the world, owns several hotel brands ranging from upscale to economy. As of ...

, a hotel chain, and HCR Manor Care, a retirement facility chain. He was the founder of the Commonweal Foundation (now known as th
Bainum Family Foundation
, a philanthropic organization.

Early life

Stewart W. Bainum Sr. was born on June 10, 1919, in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, Michigan. His father, Charles Bainum, worked for the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

in Detroit until he was dismissed during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and worked for the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

. He had two brothers, Robert and Irvin, and a sister, June Hill. Stewart was educated at the Mount Vernon Academy, a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

boarding school in

Mount Vernon, Ohio Mount Vernon is a city in Knox County, Ohio, United States. It is located northeast of Columbus. The population was 16,990 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Knox County. History The community was platted in 1805, and named after Mo ...

. He dropped out due to financial distress, but graduated years later. Meanwhile, attended the

Washington Adventist University Washington Adventist University is a private Seventh-day Adventist university in Takoma Park, Maryland. History Washington Adventist University was established in 1904 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church as Washington Training College. In ...

Business career

Bainum hitch-hiked to

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1936, where he took menial jobs. With his savings, he started a plumbing business. He later became a real estate developer and real estate investor. He served as the chairman of Realty Investment Co. Bainum was the co-founder of a hotel in

Silver Spring, Maryland Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially unincorporated, in practice it is an edge city, with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 censu ...

, in 1957. Over the years, he opened more hotels and founded Quality Inns International, later known as

. He served as its chairman and chief executive officer until 1987, and served on its board of directors until 2000. Meanwhile, Bainum opened a retirement facility with his brother in 1960. Over the years, he opened over 200 retirement facilities and established Manor Care. Through a 1998 merger with the Health Care and Retirement Corp., it became known as HCR Manor Care. He served as its chairman and chief executive officer until 1987 and served on its board of directors until 2000.

Philanthropy

Bainum co-founded the Commonweal Foundation, now known as th
Bainum Family Foundation
with his wife in 1968. Through their foundation, they donated US$12 million to students from lower socio-economic backgrounds in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. Moreover, under the aegis of the I Have A Dream Foundation, he covered the college tuition of Kramer Junior High School graduates in 1988.

Personal life

Bainum married Jane Goyne. They resided in Silver Spring, followed by

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in th ...

. They had two sons,

Stewart W. Bainum Jr. Stewart W. Bainum Jr. (born March 25, 1946) is an American businessman and politician. Bainum is chairman of Choice Hotels International, Inc. Since the 1980s, Bainum has led businesses including four current or former publicly listed companies: ...

and Bruce Bainum, and two daughters, Barbara and Roberta.

Death

Bainum died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

on February 12, 2014, at the

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 mo ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bainum, Stewart W. Sr. 1919 births 2014 deaths Businesspeople from Detroit People from Silver Spring, Maryland People from Chevy Chase, Maryland American company founders American chief executives American chairpersons of corporations Deaths from pneumonia in Maryland 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists