Joseph Coors

Joseph Coors, Sr. (November 12, 1917 – March 15, 2003), was the grandson of Adolph Coors and president of Coors Brewing Company. cite news | first = | url=http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2003-03-17-coors_x.htm | title = Brewery magnate Joseph Coors dies at 85 | publisher = Associated Press | quote=Joseph Coors, who used his brewing fortune to support President Reagan and help create the conservative Heritage Foundation, has died at age 85. Coors, whose grandfather founded Adolph Coors Co. in 1873, died Saturday in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after a three-month battle with lymphatic cancer. | date = March 17, 2003] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Joseph Coors Sr., 85, Dies; Heir to Brewing Company |url= |quote=Joseph Coors Sr., 85, a magnate of the storied brewing company who used his fortune to underwrite conservative causes, including Ronald Reagan's political career and the Heritage Foundation, a public policy research organization, died March 15 at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. He had lymphatic cancer. Mr. Coors's grandfather, a German immigrant, founded the Golden, Colorado based,Adolph Coors ... |publisher=Washington Post |date=March 18, 2003 |accessdate=2007-08-21 ]

Birth and education

Coors was born in 1917 to Adolph Coors II and Alice May Kistler (1885-1970). His siblings include Adolph Coors III and William Coors. He graduated from Cornell University in 1939 with a degree in chemical engineering, staying to earn a master's degree in 1940. His brother Adolph Coors III and cousin Dallas Morse Coors were his classmates, and all three were members of the Quill and Dagger society.

Marriage

He married Edith Holland Hanson in 1941 and had five sons, Jeffrey, Joseph Jr., Grover, John and Peter Coors. [cite web |url=http://www.nndb.com/people/129/000025054/ |title=Joseph Coors, Sr. |accessdate=2007-08-26 |quote= |publisher=NNDB ] He later divorced and then married Anne Coors.

Brewing career

After graduation, he began work in the Coors Porcelain Co.; the porcelain business helped support the company during Prohibition. With his brother, William Coors, Joseph refined the cold-filtered beer manufacturing system and began the nation's first large-scale recycling program by offering 1-cent returns on Coors aluminum cans. He served one term as a regent of the University of Colorado, attempting to quell what he considered to be campus radicalism during the Vietnam war. He served as president of Coors from 1977 to 1985 and chief operating officer from 1980 to 1988. His leadership helped expand Coors beer distribution from western states to the entire nation.

Politics

Coors was perhaps best known for his conservative politics. A founding member of the Heritage Foundation along with Paul Weyrich and Edwin Feulner, Coors provided $250,000 to the think tank to cover its first year budget. He was also involved with the founding of the Free Congress Foundation and the Council for National Policy. He was a member of Ronald Reagan's Kitchen Cabinet, helping finance Reagan's political career as governor of California and U.S. president. Coors was also known to have privately donated $65,000 to buy a light cargo plane for the contras effort in Nicaragua during Reagan's presidency. That donation went through National Security Council adviser Oliver North. [Blanchard, William H. "Neocolonialism American Style, 1960-2000". Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood P, 1996.]

Death

Coors died in Rancho Mirage, California, after a three-month battle with lymphatic cancer.

References