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SSgt Robert Bruce McClelland, Jr.
to remember
Whitney, Cornelius Vanderbilt (Sonny), Col.
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Contact Info
Home Town Roslyn, New York
Last Address Saratoga Springs, New York
Date of Passing Dec 13, 1992
Location of Interment Greenridge Cemetery - Saratoga Springs, New York
He was a member of two of the richest families in the US; but he didn't sit on his wealth doing nothing. He was very accomplished in many areas. He served during WWI as an excellent instructor pilot at Carruthers Field, TX. During WWII he served as an intelligence officer in Asia and the Middle East. After hanging up his uniform, he was a very able Assistant Secretary of the Air Force. Later he served in other government positions.
Entrepreneur Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney dead at 93
Dec. 13, 1992
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, the wealthy entrepreneur who founded Pan Am Airways and co-produced the movie 'Gone With the Wind,' died Sunday morning at his Saratoga Springs estate. He was 93.
Whitney died in his sleep at about 8:30, said Edward Lewi, an Albany, N.Y., public relations executive and friend of Whitney. The cause of death was not immediately known, Lewi said.
Whitney was an avid sportsman, thoroughbred racehorse trainer and artist who flew military airplanes in Wold War I and served as undersecrtetary of commerce under President Harry Truman.
Along with his cousin, John Hay Whitney, he co-produced the movies 'Gone With the Wind,' 'Rebecca' and 'A Star is Born.'
Whitney and his wife Marie Louise, known as 'Marylou' in the high- society social circle of Saratoga Springs, never said publicly how much they were worth.
'He's always been called a millionaire, of course, but they didn't say much,' Lewi said.
Whitney owned a 540-acre horse farm in Kentucky and 85,000 acres in New York's Adirondack Mountains. He once described his life as being filled with 'high peaks,' an apparent reference to the name of the highest range of mountains in the Adirondacks, and had said he was most comfortable camping or fishing in hunting boots, flannel shirts and old hats.
He inherited from his father, Harry Payne Whitney, a stable of star thoroughbreds in Lexington, Ky., and went on to train more stakes winners than any other U.S. trainer.
A painter and patron of the arts, Whitney fostered the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, founded by his mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, and established the Whitney Museum of Western Art at the Buffalo Bill Historical Foundation in Cody, Wyo.
He founded the National Museum of Racing, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, summer home of the New York City Ballet, and was a major benefactor of the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga.
Born wealthy in 1899, Whitney nonetheless struck out on his own and had made his own first million by age 26.
He joined the U.S. Signal Corps, forerrunner of the Air Force, in 1916 and served as fighter pilot in World War I.
He graduated from Yale in 1922 and founded the Aviation Corporation of America, later Pan American Airways, five years later.
Whitney resigned as chairman of Pan Am's board of directors in 1941 to re-enlist in the Air Force. He rose to the rank of colonel and served in India, North Africa, Iwo Jima and in Washington and received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and two battle stars.
President Harry Truman named Whitney secretary of the newly independent Air Force in 1947, and promoted him two years later to undersecretary of commerce. He also served as a spcial envoy for Truman and later for President Richard Nixon.
Whitney and his wife were the two largest individual contributors to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.
He is survived by his wife; a daughter, Cornelia Vanderbilt Whitney Richardson of Ithaca, N.Y.; and four stepchidren, Marion Louise Llewellyn of Bradford-on-Avon, England, Franks Hobbs Hosford of Saratoga Springs, Henry Deere Hosford of New Orleans; and Heather Ann Schlachter of Saratoga Springs.
Whitney is also survived by eight grandchildren and one great- granchild.
Funeral services will be private at the Chapel at Cady Hill, his estate in Saratoga Springs.
From The Independent: Obituary: Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
JULIAN MUSCAT
Saturday, 23 January 1993
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, philanthropist, racehorse owner and breeder, financier, born Rosslyn New York 20 February 1899, Chairman Pan American Airways 1931-41, Chairman Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co 1931-64, married 1923 Marie Norton (marriage dissolved 1929), 1931 Gladys Hopkins (marriage dissolved 1941), 1941 Eleanor Searle (marriage dissolved 1958), 1958 Marie Louise Hosford, died Saratoga Springs New York 13 December 1992.
CORNELIUS Vanderbilt Whitney inherited an estimated dollars 20m in 1930, at the age of 31, and lived a life as diverse as it was rich. From the time, aged 22, he borrowed dollars 3,000 to salvage a mining venture written off by his father and cashed it in for dollars 500,000 three years on, 'Sonny', as he was popularly known, served notice he intended to leave his own print on the legacies of the Whitney and Vanderbilt dynasties.
Pride in his achievements came to light in his autobiography, published in 1977, in which he outlined at some length how he laboured in the minefields. A noted party-goer and playboy in his twenties, Whitney showed he retained plenty of his youthful flamboyance in titling the book Live a Year with a Millionaire. His father, Harry Payne Whitney, was the son of William C. Whitney, Secretary to the US Navy under President Cleveland and founder of the family fortune, ostensibly in oil and tobacco. They were direct descendents of Ali Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin. Gertrude Vanderbilt, Whitney's mother, was a great-granddaughter of the shipping and railroad magnate 'Commodore' Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Whitney attended Groton School, in New York, before entering Yale, where his sporting prowess saw him coloured at rowing, squash, tennis and polo. On leaving Yale Whitney worked down the mines before recognising the potential of a national airline. Merging several small companies, Whitney joined forces with Juan Trippe to establish Avco, the forerunner of Pan American Airways, installing himself as chairman for a decade from 1931.
In spite of a reputation as mainstay of the social sets in New York and Long Island, Whitney retained anonymity from the public eye, principally on account of the exploits of his cousin John Hay Whitney, US Ambassador to Britain and publisher of the New York Herald Tribune.
Whitney sold his stake in Pan Am at the onset of the Second World War. He enlisted and served in the Pacific, India and the Middle East, where he was decorated and rose to the rank of colonel.
Already he displayed an endearing affection for horse racing, buying his father's thoroughbreds for dollars 1.3m in 1930. The Whitney Farm, in Kentucky, was one of his seven houses around the world and the scene of a traditional Kentucky Derby-eve party. The leading racehorse owner in the United States on five occasions, Whitney never realised a burning ambition to win the Kentucky Derby, although his father's silks were galloped to victory in 1915 by the filly Regret.
After the war Whitney accepted the post of first assistant secretary to the US Air Force under Truman's presidency, having failed to make Congress as a Democrat in 1932. Progressing to Under-Secretary to the Department of Commerce in 1949, Whitney was dispatched as presidential envoy to Britain, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain the following year.
His love for Spain embroiled him in the Watergate scandal in 1973, when it emerged he had donated dollars 250,000 to Richard Nixon's presidential campaign. Whitney gave evidence to the Grand Jury investigating Nixon's affairs, and while the contribution was legal, it was given on the understanding that his name would never be revealed.
Six months later, for reasons undisclosed, the money was returned with Whitney insisting his interest in the Spanish Ambassador's post and the large donation were not connected. The posting never materialised.
He met his fourth wife, Marie Louise 'Marylou' Hosford, during filming of the movie Missouri Traveller; she was the leading lady and he the producer. Between them they wiled away their days at the races until Whitney sold his bloodstock interests in 1984. With 176 Stakes victories to his name, he owned more high-class winners than anyone else in America's long horse racing history.
============== wikipedia: Most often referred to as C.V. Whitney, he was also known widely by the nickname "Sonny." After graduating from Yale University in 1922, he went to work at a Nevada mine owned by his father. His grandfather William C. Whitney was a co-founder and director of the Guaranty Trust Company of New York and in 1926 C.V. Whitney was appointed a director, serving on the bank's board until 1940. In 1927, he joined with William A. Rockefeller and other investors to back Juan Trippe in establishing the Aviation Corporation of America which a year later would become Pan American World Airways.
In 1931, Whitney founded the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Co. Limited in Canada. The company became a major zinc mining operation and Whitney served as chairman of the board until 1964.
C.V. Whitney became involved in the motion picture industry, notably with his cousin Jock Whitney as a major shareholder backing the Technicolor Corporation. The two were also financiers for the 1939 film classic Gone with the Wind. Seventeen years later, C.V. Whitney served as a producer through his own "C.V. Whitney Pictures." His company made three films, the first being the acclaimed 1956 production, The Searchers, directed by John Ford. Second was The Missouri Traveler in 1958 with Brandon De Wilde and Lee Marvin and the third The Young Land in 1959 with Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper.
Government and military service
Having spent considerable time in France, C.V. Whitney's mother, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, became involved supporting the Allied forces during World War I. She dedicated a great deal of her time and money to various relief efforts, establishing and maintaining a hospital in France for wounded soldiers. Eighteen-year-old C.V. Whitney joined the United States Army, serving as a cadet in the Signal Corps, rising to the rank of Second Lieutenant.
With the onset of American involvement in World War II, Whitney volunteered again for service, rising to the rank of colonel with the United States Army Air Forces. At the end of the war, C.V. Whitney served under U.S. President Harry S. Truman as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (1947â??49) and Undersecretary of Commerce (1949â??50). He was also appointed President Truman's special envoy to England, Luxembourg, Spain and Italy.
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Born February 20, 1899(1899-02-20) Roslyn, New York Died December 13, 1992 (aged 93) Saratoga Springs, New York Residence Old Westbury, New York Education Yale University Occupation Businessman: Banker Corporate investor Film producer Polo player Racehorse owner/breeder Philanthropist Political party Democrat Spouse(s) 1 Marie Norton (1923-1929) 2) Gladys C. Hopkins (1931-1940) 3) Eleanor Searle (1941-1957) 4) Marie Louise Schroeder(1958-his death) Children Harry Payne II, Nancy Marie, Gayle, Cornelia Parents Harry Payne Whitney & Gertrude Vanderbilt
Other Comments: Writings
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney wrote five books:
Lone and Level Sands (1951) - a personal narrative of Allied aerial operations during World War II ;
High Peaks (1977) â?? autobiography;
Live a Year with a Millionaire (1981).
Owl Hoots Again (1988) - a collection of short stories for children;
First flight : the diary of a cadet in the Signal Corps in World War I (1989).
