Editing J. R. Simplot

{{short description|American businessman}}
{{Lead too short|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = J. R. Simplot.jpeg
| caption            = 
| name               = J. R. "Jack" Simplot
| birth_name         = John Richard Simplot
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1909|1|4}}
| birth_place        = [[Dubuque, Iowa]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2008|5|25|1909|1|4}}
| death_place        = [[Boise, Idaho]], U.S.
| resting_place      = Morris Hill Cemetery, Boise, Idaho
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| known_for          = Founder of the<br>[[Simplot|J. R. Simplot Company]]
| education          = [[Eighth grade]] dropout<ref name="forbes">{{cite news |url= https://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/54/richlist07_John-Simplot-family_ZPFO.html |title= #89 John Simplot & family |access-date= 2008-05-30 | work=Forbes}}</ref>
| employer           = 
| occupation         = 
| title              = 
| height             = 
| term               = 
| predecessor        = 
| successor          = 
| party              = 
| boards             = 
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{Marriage|Ruby Adeline Rosevear|1931|1960|end=divorced}}
* {{Marriage|Esther Becker|1972}}
}}
| partner            = 
| children           = 4, including [[Scott Simplot|Scott]]
| relatives          = 
| signature          = 
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}}
'''John Richard Simplot''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|m|p|l|ɒ|t}}; January 4, 1909 – May 25, 2008) was an American entrepreneur and businessman best known as the founder of the [[Simplot|J. R. Simplot Company]], a [[Boise, Idaho]]–based agricultural supplier specializing in [[potato]] products.<ref name=trlhaas>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QXZfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fy8MAAAAIBAJ&pg=2199%2C7737 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |last=Trillhaase |first=Marty |title=Simplot |date=July 1, 1990 |page=1A}}</ref><ref name=jmsimapobt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2NsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RvAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1028%2C3173862 |work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |location=(Idaho-Washington) |agency=Associated Press |last=Miller |first=John |title=Potato mogul J.R. Simplot dead at 99 |date=May 26, 2008 |page=3A}}</ref> In 2007, he was estimated to be the 89th-richest person in the United States, at [[United States dollar|$]]3.6 billion. At the time of his death at age 99 in May 2008, he was the oldest [[billionaire]] on the [[Forbes 400]].<ref>{{cite journal
 | title = #80 John Richard Simplot and family
 | journal = Forbes
 | volume = 178
 | date = 2006-09-21
 | url = https://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_John-Richard-Simplot-family_ZPFO.html
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070103113435/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/54/biz_06rich400_John-Richard-Simplot-family_ZPFO.html
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-date = January 3, 2007
 | issn = 0015-6914
 | access-date = 2007-06-30}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born in [[Dubuque, Iowa]],<ref name=jmsimapobt/> he was the third of six children of Charles R. and Dorothy (Haxby) Simplot. His maternal grandmother was English, as were both parents of both his maternal grandfather and paternal grandmother. His paternal great-grandparents were both French.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

A year later in 1910, the family relocated a thousand miles (1,600&nbsp;km) west to [[Homestead Act|homestead]] in the newly [[irrigation|irrigated]] [[Magic Valley]] of south central [[Idaho]]; the [[Minidoka Dam]] on the [[Snake River]] was completed a few years earlier. After differences with his father, Simplot left school in the eighth grade at age 14 in 1923, then worked on a farm near [[Declo, Idaho|Declo]] in [[Cassia County, Idaho|Cassia County]]. He developed a low-cost method for feeding hogs when the market fell, feeding them wild horse meat and potatoes. When the market recovered, Simplot sold his hogs at a profit and got into the [[potato]] and vegetable processing business.<ref name=trlhaas/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.rangemagazine.com/archives/stories/summer98/jr_simplot.htm |title= Mr. Spud |access-date= 2008-05-30}}</ref>

==J. R. Simplot Company==
{{main article|Simplot}}
By [[World War II]], the [[Simplot|J. R. Simplot Company]] had become the largest shipper of fresh potatoes in the nation.

In 1967, Simplot and [[McDonald's]] founder [[Ray Kroc]] agreed by handshake that the Simplot Company would provide frozen french fries to the restaurant chain. Previously, restaurants had cut potatoes at each location for fresh french fries, but the favored [[russet Burbank potato|russet potato]] was not available for three months in the summer, leading to a quality control problem. Simplot was able to supply frozen russet potatoes all year long. By 1972, all fries were frozen.<ref>'': Behind the Arches'', pp. 327–332, Love, John F., rev. ed., 1995, New York: Bantam Books</ref> The frozen fry deal led to expansion of Simplot potato processing plants and construction in 1977 of a new plant at [[Hermiston, Oregon]]. By 2005, Simplot supplied more than half of all french fries for the [[fast food]] chain. Simplot also produces [[fertilizer]]s for agriculture.<ref>{{cite journal
 | last = Brandt
 | first = Richard
 | title = J.R. Simplot: Still Hustling, after all these years
 | journal = Business Week
 | issue = 3176
 | pages = 60–65
 | date = 1990-09-03
 | issn = 0007-7135 }}</ref>

Simplot retired as president of his company in 1973, but remained as chairman until 1994. He held the title of chairman emeritus until his death in 2008. Simplot received an honorary degree from [[Utah State University]] in [[Logan, Utah|Logan]] in 2001,<ref>[http://www.usu.edu/aa/awards/honorary_degrees.cfm Honorary Degrees] from [[Utah State University]],</ref> honoring him for his many contributions to the agricultural industry of America, particularly the [[Intermountain West]].

Simplot was responsible for the [[New York Mercantile Exchange#Goods|Potato Bust]] of 1976, after making massive short plays he refused to honor those contracts. This resulted in millions in dollars of losses for the New York Merchant Exchange. A public outcry followed, and the newly created [[Commodity Futures Trading Commission]] held hearings.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=D2y7SftShx8C The Asylum], [[Leah McGrath Goodman]], Harper Collins, 2011</ref>

Further enhancing his enormous wealth, the J.R. Simplot Company provided startup capital in the early 1980s for the fledgling [[Micron Technology]], a [[Boise, Idaho|Boise]]-based manufacturer of [[computer memory]] chips;<ref name=trlhaas/> in 1994, he owned a 20% stake in the company.<ref>{{cite news |title= The Micron Mystery : Sudden Departure of Three Execs Goes Unexplained |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-21-fi-41148-story.html |newspaper= [[Los Angeles Times]] |date= September 21, 1994 |access-date= 2024-03-06}}</ref> Additionally, he invested heavily in [[Remington Oil & Gas Corporation|Remington Oil]].

In 1961, Simplot financed the [[Brundage Mountain]] [[ski area]] near [[McCall, Idaho|McCall]], two hours north of Boise. The Simplot Company sold its 50% interest in Brundage in April 2006 to the longtime co-owner, the DeBoer family. In the early 1950s, Simplot was the benefactor to the fledgling [[Bogus Basin]] ski area near Boise when it had financial difficulties; the base area lodge is named in his honor.

In 1995, the J.R. Simplot Company expanded into [[Australia]], acquiring iconic food brands like Birds Eye, Leggo's, Chiko, and Edgell.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.simplot.com.au/about-simplot/introducing-simplot-australia/|title=Simplot Australia - Introducing Simplot Australia|website=Simplot.com.au|access-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>

==Personal==
Simplot's first marriage was to Ruby Rosevear (1911–2004) of [[Glenns Ferry, Idaho|Glenns Ferry]],<ref name=xwrsdobt>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y8NeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uTEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4474%2C2744494 |work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |agency=Associated Press |title=Simplot's ex-wife Ruby Shipp dies |date=April 23, 2004 |page=7C}}</ref> whom he had met on a [[wiktionary:blind date|blind date]]; he proposed to her in his [[Ford Model A (1927–1931)|Model A]] [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] in 1931. After 29 years and four children, the marriage ended in divorce in 1960, when she suddenly left Simplot for another man. Years later, Simplot admitted that while he was growing his business empire in the 1950s, he had not spent enough time with his family.

He and his second wife, Esther Becker (born 1934), a former [[opera]] singer, met in the mid-1960s in [[New York City|New York]]. He was on a business trip and she was working as a receptionist for the [[Henry Phipps Jr.|Henry Phipps Foundation]]; they were married in 1972.<ref>{{cite news |title= Simplot: Farmboy who never went to high school turns potatoes into biggest fortune in Idaho |url= http://www.idahostatesman.com/simplot/story/391642.html |newspaper= [[Idaho Statesman]] |date= May 25, 2008 |access-date= 2008-05-30}}</ref>

Before his death, Simplot and his wife Esther resided in the Grove Hotel building in downtown Boise, a few blocks from the company's headquarters. The couple donated their hilltop home, in Boise's north end, to the state of [[Idaho]] in late 2004 for use as a governor's mansion.<ref name=hndovhs>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yIJfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mDAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3548%2C2213697 |work=Lewiston Tribune |last=Oxley |first=Chuck |agency=Associated Press |title=Simplot hands over house on the hill |date=December 22, 2004 |page=2C}}</ref> (Known as "[[State of Idaho Executive Residence|The Idaho House]]," it was returned to the Simplot family in 2013, and demolished in January 2016.)<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2016/01/04/simplot-mansion-torn-down/78265350/ |title= Simplot Family Says Boise Mansion to Be Torn Down |publisher= [[KTVB]] |date= January 4, 2016 |access-date= January 4, 2016 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160107045939/http://www.ktvb.com/story/news/local/2016/01/04/simplot-mansion-torn-down/78265350/ |archive-date= 2016-01-07 |url-status= dead }}</ref>

==Accident==
On January 1, 2007, while attending the [[2007 Fiesta Bowl|Fiesta Bowl]] in [[Glendale, Arizona]], with his wife and son, Simplot fell from a motorized scooter and suffered a cranial [[hematoma]]. He was taken to [[St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], where he spent his 98th birthday.<ref name="fiestafall">{{cite web |url= http://www.idahostatesman.com/239/story/66098.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20140830013949/http://www.idahostatesman.com/239/story/66098.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2014-08-30 |title= Idaho's richest citizen will celebrate his 98th birthday from a bed in Phoenix |access-date= 2007-01-04}}</ref> Simplot returned to Idaho several days later for further rehabilitation.<ref name="back">{{cite web |url= http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/67148.html |archive-url= https://archive.today/20140830004952/http://www.idahostatesman.com/102/story/67148.html |url-status= dead |archive-date= 2014-08-30 |title= J.R. Simplot's back in Boise |access-date= 2007-01-23}}</ref>

==Death==
Simplot died suddenly at his home at age 99 on May 25, 2008,<ref name=jmsimapobt/> with his wife at his side, following a bout of [[pneumonia]] from which he appeared to be recovering. His death occurred moments after he had invited a friend to his home to play cards.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.idahostatesman.com/eyepiece/story/391275.html |title= J.R. Simplot dies at 99, with wife Esther at his side |newspaper= [[Idaho Statesman]] |access-date= 2008-05-25}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref>

Simplot was survived by his wife, two sons, Don and [[Scott Simplot|Scott]], and his daughter, Gay, who was the first wife of politician [[Butch Otter]]. His eldest son, Richard, died in 1993 at age 59. He was interred at Morris Hill Cemetery in Boise.<ref name=mhwt>{{cite web |url=http://parks.cityofboise.org/parks-locations/cemeteries/morris-hill-walking-tour/#simplot |publisher=City of Boise |agency=Parks & Recreation |location=Idaho |title=Morris Hill Cemetery walking tour: J.R. Simplot |access-date=October 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428165953/http://parks.cityofboise.org/parks-locations/cemeteries/morris-hill-walking-tour/#simplot |archive-date=April 28, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1996, Simplot was inducted into the [[Hall of Great Westerners]] of the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Hall of Great Westerners |url=https://nationalcowboymuseum.org/hall-of-great-westerners/ |website=National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum |access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
* Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] (1967)<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/#business}}</ref>
* [[Hall of Great Westerners]] of the [[National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum]] (1996)
* Honorary degree from [[Utah State University]] in [[Logan, Utah|Logan]] (2001)

==See also==
* [[Jack's Urban Meeting Place]] (JUMP)

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080530014343/http://www.simplot.com/company/jr_simplot.cfm Simplot company web announcement of death of founder J.R. "Jack" Simplot]
* [http://blog.oregonlive.com/oregonianextra/2008/05/profile_of_billionaire_jr_simp.html May 2008 profile of J.R. Simplot] from ''[[The Oregonian]]''
* [http://www.idahoptv.org/productions/idahoportrait/about/simplot.html Profile of J.R. Simplot's early career] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305160755/http://idahoptv.org/productions/idahoportrait/about/simplot.html |date=2008-03-05 }}, from Idaho Public TV
* [http://www.idahopotato.com/70_years/simplot.php Simplot's Story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529001405/http://www.idahopotato.com/70_years/simplot.php |date=2008-05-29 }}, reprinted from ''[[The Idaho Statesman]]'', 1999, from idahopotato.com
* [http://www.idahostatesman.com/simplot/ Simplot articles], from the ''Idaho Statesman''
* [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/business/28simplot.html J.R. Simplot obituary], from ''[[The New York Times]]'', May 28, 2008
*{{Find a Grave|27082536}}
{{Micron Technology|state=autocollapse}} 
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simplot, J. R.}}
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American billionaires]]
[[Category:American food company founders]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:American people of French descent]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Iowa]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Idaho]]
[[Category:People from Dubuque, Iowa]]
[[Category:People from Boise, Idaho]]
[[Category:Utah State University people]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Idaho]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Micron Technology people]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]