UPDATE: April 7, 2011
In keeping with the Phillies official remembrance of Phillies owners Alexander and James Buck I am posting the passing of James Mahlon Buck Jr. with the post of his brother Alexander's passing. Phillies players are wearing a black patch with the letter "B" this season to mark their passing.
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James Mahlon Buck Jr. and his wife Elia |
On March 16, 2011 the head of the Buck families ownership in the Phillies passed away at his home from heart disease. Who he was is still a mystery, like many other owners of MLB teams. James Mahlon Buck Jr. was a long time donor to the Republican party. Senator Arlen Specter -when he was a Republican- knew him and received donations to his campaigns for office from Mr. Buck. That does not appear in obits about Mr. Buck.
How much money is the estate of James Mahlon Buck Jr. worth? That's impossible to say. The Bucks are the type of people known as “blue bloods”. They do not advertise their wealth, they go to extreme lengths to hide how much money they have.
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Left to right: James MahlonBuck Jr., wife Elia, daughter Caroline "Cackie" Rogers and son James Mahlon Buck III |
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So who will come into this money? At the moment it would appear that his wife Elia would take control, but who knows? Eventually it will be his son James Mahlon Buck III, who like his father worked at TDH Capital, a venture capital firm established by James Mahlon Buck Jr. and his brothers Alexander and William. James III is married to Elinor, formerly Elinor Ann Hosterman of York Pennsylvania. Her background was in “market research” and she graduated from Drexel University. Their engagement was announced in the New York Times almost 20 years ago in 1992.
James III is a General Partner at TDH Capital. Like dad he attended Princeton, and graduated from Princeton.
James Mahlon Buck III is currently also a member of another venture capital firm as well. This one is called MidCoast Capital. This firm seems to be a shell corporation operating underneath of TDH Capital. It was founded by Michael A. Cuneo and Steven W. Harris, both of whom were or still are involved with TDH Capital as well. Interestingly both Mr. Cuneo and Mr. Harris are graduates -with an MBA- of the Wharton Business School, just as Phillies President Dave $$$ Montgomery is.
What a coincidence!
So what does it all mean? James III is loaded ($) and he's extremely well educated in the real art of capitalism as practiced behind closed doors where the public is never allowed. So not only do the Phillies -and their fans!- have John S. Middleton and his four Billion in ca$h, they also have the vigorous looking (about 52 years old) James Mahlon Buck III lurking in the background with financial connections worldwide to endless streams of money (many of them his own).
So if the Phillies decide they need Albert Pujols playing left field next year, guess who will be playing left field for the Phillies next year?
You catch on quick!
From the obits:
In 1981, Mr. Buck and his two brothers were among the limited partners who purchased the Phillies from the Carpenter family for $30.2 million. According to published reports, the Buck's share at the time was about 30 percent.
"The two things that appealed to them were that they loved the sport and they followed it as kids. They saw the Phillies as a Philadelphia institution," the team's president, David Montgomery, told The Inquirer last year.
The Phillies were an integral part of Mr. Buck's life, his daughter, Caroline “Cackie” Rogers, said. "Family and friends would join him in the rooting section from the beginning of spring training until the 'final pitch.'" Rogers said. He had been scheduled to travel to Clearwater this week, she said.
After learning of Mr. Buck's death, Montgomery said in a statement, "Jim provided direction and consistent support for many of us in this organization. His wise counsel and warm friendship will be sorely missed."
In 1948, Mr. Buck began his business career in wholesale drug distribution with Smith Kline & French. The company, now GlaxoSmithKline, was founded by his ancestors in 1830.
Mr. Buck and his brothers, Alexander and William, purchased the wholesale division of Smith Kline in 1965 and renamed it the Drug House Inc.
He was chairman of the Drug House and, after it was sold to Alco Standard in 1977, he became chairman of Alco Health Services Division. For the next decade, he helped the firm purchase wholesale drug firms throughout the country.
Alco Health eventually went public as AmeriSource Health Corp. in 1995 and in 2001 merged to become AmerisourceBergen, one of the nation's largest pharmaceutical services providers.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Buck and his brothers founded TDH Capital Corp, a venture capital holding company in Radnor. The company investing founding capital in a number of firms including ESPN, Airgas, Staples and Intelligent Electronics. He remained active in the company.
Mr. Buck graduated from Haverford School and attended Princeton University before enlisting in the Army during World War II.
He served in the 92nd Division Field Artillery in Europe and fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree from Princeton. He sang with the Princeton a cappella group, the Nassoons, and performed in musical theater productions with Princeton's Triangle Club.
A patron of Haverford and Princeton, he also served on the board of Church Farm School for more than 40 years. He was an emeritus trustee of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Bryn Mawr Hospital and was a founding trustee of the Main Line Health System. He was also on the board of Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church.
Since 1953, Mr. Buck had been married to Elia Durr Buck. They met at a wholesale-drug convention, where she was working for her father who also was in the pharmaceutical business.
In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Buck is survived by a son, James III; six grandchildren; and brother William. His brother Alexander died in October. A daughter Anne died in 1975.
A memorial service will be at 4 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Bryn Mawr.
Donations may be made to the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, 260 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, 19102.
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In doing some searching by name I came across the fact that Phillies' part owner Alexander K. Buck passed away at the end of October last year (2010). This is apparently his obit published in the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News on October 26, 2010.
ALEXANDER "WHIP" BUCK, died peacefully, surrounded by his family Sunday afternoon at Capital Healthcare Hospital in Trenton.
Mr Buck was a gentle man, humble, kind, wise, thoughtful, generous, devoted to his family and fiercely loyal to his friends. He attended Haverford School, graduated from The Hun School, and attended Lafayette College before joining the U.S. Marine Corps in 1952, where he served with distinction. He was a business leader and entrepreneur, working for years as a Vice President at SmithKline and French in Trenton, and later founding TDH, Inc., a venture capital firm, with his brothers. His service to a myriad of non profit organizations helped leave the world a better place. He is an Emeritus trustee of The Hun School of Princeton, The Medical Center at Princeton, Princeton Bank and Trust Company, Kieve Affective Education, Inc., and the YMCA of Princeton, and was a member of Trinity Church of Princeton.
In 1996, he and Sally and their children founded Horizon Foundation, Inc, the family foundation now based in Portland, Maine. Alexander Buck believed in the power of community, and was widely loved and admired by a host of friends and citizens in Princeton; Nobleboro ME; Hobe Sound FL, and Osterville MA.
In 1981, Mr Buck and his two brothers became partners of the Philadelphia Phillies, a team he had cheered since his earliest boyhood. Over the course of their involvement with the Phillies, the team has been to the World Series 4 times winning the Championship in 2008.
Whip had music in his soul. He sang with the Palmer Squares and enjoyed pounding out hymns and boogie-woogie on the piano. Also an accomplished athlete, he loved playing golf at Beden's Brook Club, where he was a charter member; played spirited tennis at Pretty Brook Club; and was inducted into the Hun School Athletic Hall of Fame in 1996, recognizing his contributions to the school football and baseball teams in the late-1940s. He sailed, swam, canoed and fished in Maine, where he spent many happy summers since the 1930s. He worked to conserve the land he loved in Nobleboro and Princeton, deeply believing in the importance of land stewardship.
Mr Buck is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 56 years, Sara Long Buck; his brother William Clifton and their wives and children; his sons, Alexander, Jr, and Norman Harrison, and their wives, Sissy and Nancy; five grandchildren and one great-grandson.
His family loves him and has been inspired by his philanthropy, love, community spirit, sense of humor, athletic prowess, and passion for the natural world.
In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to Trinity Church in Princeton, where a Memorial Service will celebrate his life on Thursday, October 28th, at 11 A.M. Arrangements are under the direction of THE MATHER-HODGE FUNERAL HOME, Princeton.
Published in Philadelphia Inquirer & Philadelphia Daily News on October 26, 2010