Former US senator and Milwaukee Bucks owner Herb Kohl died Wednesday after a “brief illness.” He is 88 years old.
His death was announced by Herb Kohl Philanthropies.
“Throughout his life, Herb Kohl has always put people first – from his employees and their families to his clients and countless charitable organizations and endeavors,” Herb Kohl Philanthropies director of giving JoAnne Anton told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“Herb Kohl Way is not just the name of the street in front of the Fiserv Forum. The Herb Kohl Way perfectly sums up his legacy of humility, commitment, compromise and kindness to the many people who worked, served and helped him along the way. Those values will live on through his Foundation.”
Kohl grew up in Milwaukee, the son of Russian and Polish Jewish immigrants.
Former Milwaukee Bucks owner and US Senator Herb Kohl has died at the age of 88 following a brief illness. AP
“They came with zero,” Kohl said of his parents, according to the Journal-Sentinel. “None of us ever thought that we could achieve anything less than full effort in life.”
His father, Maxwell Kohl, founded Kohl’s Food Stores in 1946.
The supermarket expanded throughout the Milwaukee area and eventually resulted in the first Kohl’s department store in 1962.
As the company continued to grow, Herb became president in 1970.
Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., made his final appearance at the Wisconsin Democratic Convention in Appleton, Wis. on Saturday, June 9, 2012. AP
In 1972, when Kohl’s included 50 supermarkets and six department stores, the company was sold to British American Tobacco, and Herb remained in management until 1979.
Kohl served as a Democratic US senator from 1989 to 2013, winning four elected terms before stepping down.
He bought the Milwaukee Bucks for $18 million in 1985 from John Fitzgerald and sold the franchise in 2014 to New York financiers Wes Edens and Marc Lasry for $550 million (fellow New York financier James Dinan bought into the team that year , and Lasry sold his stake in the team to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam earlier this year.)
Herb Kohl served in the senate from 1989-2012. Bloomberg News
Kohl was adamant about the team staying in Milwaukee, turning down an offer from NBA legend Michael Jordan – who would go on to buy and then sell the Charlotte Hornets – and even kicking in $100 million for the construction of the team’s new arena, the Fiserv Forum , after he sold the team.
In the 1990s, Kohl also donated $25 million for the construction of the Kohl Center, which hosts the Badger basketball and hockey teams at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“His humbleness is evident – for a man who can certainly afford the greatest luxury – it’s not unusual to find him at a table in a downtown cafe,” Milwaukee mayor Cavalier Johnson said at a news conference Wednesday night.
“He doesn’t pretend to be important or arrogant. He’s always Herb.”
Johnson added that Kohl “will be remembered for his friendliness and generosity” and included an important emphasis for the city’s die-hard sports fans: “Oh, yes, he saved the Bucks for Milwaukee.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
