George D. Widener, Jr.

Infobox_Person
name = George D. Widener, Jr.


imagesize =
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1889|3|11
birth_place = New York City, New York
United States flagicon|USA
death_date = death date and age|1971|12|8|1889|3|11|mf=y
death_place = Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania flagicon|USA
resting_place =
residence = Erdenheim Farm, Whitemarsh Township
education =
occupation = Businessman, philanthropist, racehorse owner/breeder
party =
spouse = Jessie Sloane (1883-1968)
children = Diana Dodge (stepdaughter)
parents = George Dunton Widener &
Eleanor Elkins
religion = EpiscopalianInfobox Awards
title = Honors
halign =
box_width =23em
award1 = U. S. Racing Hall of Fame Exemplar of Racing
award2 = George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals
award3 =
award4 =

George Dunton Widener, Jr. (March 11, 1889 - December 8, 1971) was an American businessman and a Thoroughbred racehorse owner who is one of the only five people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Born to the prominent and wealthy Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his grandfather was the Philadelphia traction magnate Peter A. B. Widener (1834-1915). George Jr. was the son of Eleanor Elkins and her husband, George Dunton Widener and a brother to Harry Elkins Widener (b. 1885) and Eleanor Widener (b. 1891). At age twenty-one, he lost both his father and his brother when the RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage on April 15, 1912.

Greatly influenced by his uncle Joseph E. Widener, head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Florida's Hialeah Park racetrack, George D. Widener, Jr. became involved in Thoroughbred horse racing. He owned Old Kenney Farm (now Green Gates Farm) in Lexington, Kentucky.

In 1917 George Widener married divorcee Jessie Sloane, daughter of Henry T. Sloane and Jessie Robbins of New York City and the former wife of Willam Earl Dodge with whom she had a daughter named Diana.

From 1960 to 1968 George Widener served as president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

George D. Widener Jr. died in 1971 at his Erdenheim Farm Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine's George D. Widener Hospital for Large Animals at the New Bolton Center is name in his honor.