Willard Lawson Radcliff (December 20, 1939 – September 18, 2014) was an American businessman who created the Slush Puppie, a frozen slush drink. He also founded Slush Puppie Corp. in 1970, which grew to $25 million in worldwide annual sales by 1999. In 2000, Radcliff sold Slush Puppie to

Cadbury Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mars ...

for $16.6 million. Slush Puppie was acquired by

J & J Snack Foods J&J Snack Foods Corporation (JJSFC) is an American manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of name brand snack foods and frozen beverages. Headquartered in Pennsauken, NJ, JJSF uses over 175 facilities for manufacturing, warehousing, and distrib ...

in 2006.

Life and career

Radcliff was born on December 20, 1939, in

Dayton, Kentucky The City of Dayton, Kentucky, is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city along a bend of the Ohio River in Campbell County, Kentucky, Campbell County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 5,338 at the 2010 United States Censu ...

, and raised in

Cincinnati 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 ...

, Ohio. He graduated from Cincinnati's Western Hills High School in 1958. Prior to founding Slush Puppie, Radcliff held jobs as a shoe shiner at a country club, a vacuum cleaner salesman and a peanut seller. As the Slush Puppie Corp. expanded, Radcliff added additional products, including Thelma's frozen lemonade, Pacific Bay Smooth-E, and Lanikai Frozen Cocktail. In the 1980s, Radcliff became interested in land surrounding

Umatilla, Florida Umatilla is a city in central Florida and it is in northern Lake County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,456 at the 2010 census and an estimated 3,805 in 2018. Umatilla is known as the Gateway to the Ocala National Forest, located in ...

, while visiting friends in the 1980s. He acquired approximately 3,594 acres of wilderness and

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or swine ...

land when "was nothing there but lots of cattle," according to his daughter, DeeAnn Radcliff Harmon. Radcliff regularly flew in a private plane between his home in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and his ranch in

Central Florida Central Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida. Different sources give different definitions for the region, but as its name implies it is usually said to comprise the central part of the state, including the Tampa Bay area and the Gr ...

. He called it Radcliff's Fly'n R Ranch, located in

Lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

and

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mari ...

counties. He built a 19,990-square-foot barn complete with a

lumber mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

, to saw the wooden boards used to construct his ranch house. Radcliff became seriously interested in land conservation following the sale of Slush Puppie for $16.6 million in 2000. Much of the Floridian land which Radlciff owned had been drained for cattle ranching or pasture land. Radcliff oversaw the restoration of much of the land to a more natural state and completed most of the work himself. He dredged his marshes to restore area lakes, which created habitat for

osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

waterfowl Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...

and

wading bird 245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...

s. Under an agreement, 3,106 acres of his ranch was passed to the state-owned

St. Johns River Water Management District The St. Johns River Water Management District ("SJRWMD") is one of five Florida water management districts that is responsible for managing groundwater and surface water resources in Florida. SJRWMD covers an 18-county region in northeast and east ...

upon his death in 2014. Negotiations between Radcliff and St. Johns River Water Management District officials took years to complete. A provision allowing Radcliff to remain on the ranch led to a final agreement, in which Radlciff received $5.2 million for the future rights to his land. The 3,105 acres will be turned into a Florida state-owned water and

wildlife sanctuary A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...

. Water Management District see Radcliff's ranch as a key corridor connecting the

Ocala National Forest The Ocala National Forest ls the second largest nationally protected forest in the U.S. State of Florida. It covers of northern Florida. It is located three miles (5 km) east of Ocala and southeast of Gainesville. The Ocala National For ...

Lake Griffin State Park Lake Griffin State Park is a Florida State Park located two miles (3 km) north of Leesburg, in Fruitland Park and south of Ocala on U.S. Highway 441. It is home to one of the state's largest live oak trees. The park is unique in connect ...

, and the

Ocklawaha River The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 21, 2011 Ocklawaha River flows north from central Florida until it joins the St. Johns River near Palatka. Its name is derived ...

. The remaining 500 acres of his ranch, including his home, will remain the property of his estate, with an easement to prohibit the development of the land. Will Radcliff died in Cincinnati, Ohio, from complications of a fall on September 18, 2014, at the age of 74. He was survived by his daughter, DeeAnn Radcliff Harmon; son, Chris Radcliff; his brother; and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radcliff, Will 1939 births 2014 deaths Drink company founders American food company founders American drink industry businesspeople Businesspeople from Cincinnati People from Umatilla, Florida People from Dayton, Kentucky 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Kentucky Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in Ohio