Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson Sr. (1906 – June 17, 1968) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of an

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

and

savings and loan Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an I ...

association, H.F. Ahmanson & Co. He made his fortune 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 ...

selling

fire insurance Property insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance, or bo ...

for property under

foreclosure Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mortg ...

. He also bought real estate and invested in oil.

Early life

Ahmanson was born on July 1, 1906 in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. When his father died in 1925, he moved with his mother to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He enrolled at the University of Southern California, graduating in 1927 with a B.S. in Business Administration. In college, he began selling fire insurance for National American Fire Insurance, a company founded by his father. Enlisting in 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 ...

in 1943, he spent a year in

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, ...

as a procurement officer.

Career

Ahmanson launched his career by selling fire insurance in the late 1920s. During the Great Depression, he specialized in fire insurance on foreclosed properties and began buying real estate, which began to build his fortune. Through the rest of the decade, his business grew as he specialized in serving savings and loans. In 1944, while still on active duty in the Navy, he acquired control of National American Fire Insurance. After returning to Los Angeles in 1945, he began investing in savings and loans. In 1947, he bought Home Building and Loan (later known as Home Savings). In an era when state and federal regulations limited branching, Ahmanson and his top executive, Kenneth D. Childs took advantage of the

home construction Home construction or residential construction is the process of constructing a house, apartment building, or similar residential building generally referred to as a 'home' when giving consideration to the people who might now or someday reside th ...

and

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

boom around Los Angeles to make Home Savings and Loan the largest thrift in the United States.

Political activism

Involved with the

California Republican Party The California Republican Party (CAGOP) is the affiliate of the United States Republican Party in the U.S. state of California. The party is based in Sacramento and is led by chair Jessica Millan Patterson. As of October 2020, Republicans repre ...

since the mid-1930s, Ahmanson began to take a more active role in 1954 when his long-time friend

Goodwin Knight Goodwin Jess "Goodie" Knight (December 9, 1896 – May 22, 1970) was an American politician who served as the 31st governor of California from 1953 until 1959. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the 35th lieutenant governor ...

ran for governor. With the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

slated to be held in San Francisco in 1956 and the possibility that two favorite sons—Knight and

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

—might be running for president, Ahmanson became the focal point for a bitter fight within the party when Knight picked him to become vice chairman of the party. Although Ahmanson was elected to the position, the fight further poisoned the relationship between Knight and Nixon. After a heart attack, Ahmanson was forced to relinquish the position and withdraw from political leadership.

Philanthropy

Beginning in the mid-1950s, Ahmanson began to play a major role in the cultural life of Los Angeles. He served on the board of the Museum of Science and Industry, helped found the support organization for the Los Angeles County Art Institute (also known as the

Otis Art Institute Otis College of Art and Design is a private art and design school in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1918, it was the city's first independent professional school of art. The main campus is located in the former IBM Aerospace headquarte ...

), gave $2 million to help fund the construction of the

Los Angeles County Museum of Art The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is an art museum located on Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles. LACMA is on Museum Row, adjacent to the La Brea Tar Pits (George C. Pa ...

, provided a major gift to support construction of the

Los Angeles Music Center The Music Center (officially named the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County) is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Located in downtown Los Angeles, The Music Center is composed of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ...

, and provided generous funding to his alma mater, the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. He gave $1 million in 1962 to help fund the development of a biosciences research center.Dick Turpin, "$1 Million Given to USC by Howard Ahmanson," Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1962, A1. He also influenced the cultural life of Southern California when he hired the artist

Millard Sheets Millard Owen Sheets (June 24, 1907 – March 31, 1989) was an American artist, teacher, and architectural designer. He was one of the earliest of the California Scene Painting artists and helped define the art movement. Many of his large-scale bu ...

in 1953 to begin designing Home Savings' branches. Sheets integrated the work of local muralists, ceramic and glass artists into the design of the buildings.

Yachting

A successful yachtsman, he bought his first racing vessel in 1948 and named it Sirius. For years, he sailed out of the Newport Harbor. He was a multiple winner of the San Diego to Acapulco Race. In 1961, he and his crew aboard the M class yacht Sirius II (formerly Barlovento) won the Transpac race to Honolulu. His crew included USC President

Norman Topping Norman Topping (1908 – 18 November 1997) was the President of the University of Southern California between 1958 and 1970. He succeeded Fred D. Fagg, Jr., and was succeeded by John R. Hubbard. He was chancellor between 1971 and 1980. He became ...

, architect

William Pereira William Leonard Pereira (April 25, 1909 – November 13, 1985) was an American architect from Chicago, Illinois, who was noted for his futuristic designs of landmark buildings such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. Remarkably pro ...

and architect Bill Ficker who later was skipper of Intrepid, winner of the 1970 Americas Cup.

Personal life

On June 24, 1933, he married Dorothy Johnston Grannis (1907-1979) in Los Angeles. In 1950 they had a son, Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson Jr. The couple divorced in 1962. On January 14, 1965, he married

Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson (April 12, 1918 – June 21, 2005) was an American fashion consultant, businesswoman and philanthropist. She was a corporate director of The Walt Disney Company and the Fluor Corporation. She served as Chairman of the ...

, a fashion consultant who was a regular on the Art Linkletter show.Associated Press
Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson; prominent Southern California philanthropist; 83
''

U-T San Diego ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

'', June 25, 2005

Death

He died on June 17, 1968, while traveling with his wife and son in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. A major portion of his assets went to the Ahmanson Foundation in Los Angeles.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmanson, Howard F. Sr. American financiers 1906 births 1968 deaths Businesspeople from Los Angeles People associated with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Philanthropists from California Businesspeople in insurance Businesspeople from Omaha, Nebraska Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) California Republicans 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists