George Gund II

Gund's grandfather, Johann Gund, was born in 1830 in Brühl am Rhein in the independent country of the Grand Duchy of Baden (now part of Germany). The family emigrated to the United States in 1848 and settled in Illinois, but in 1854 moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin. His father bought the Jacob Mall Brewing Company, renamed it the Gund Brewing Company, and made a large fortune investing in banking, mining, and real estate. He was a student at the University School of Cleveland from 1897 to 1905. He moved to Seattle and took a job as a clerk with the Seattle First National Bank, but moved back to Cleveland when his father died in 1916. But when World War I broke out, he enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Military Intelligence Division. ==Business career==

After the start of prohibition in the United States in 1920, Gund was forced to close his father's brewery in Cleveland. Gund also took over management of the Gund Realty Company in Cleveland and invested his money in numerous ventures. Gund studied animal husbandry at Iowa State University from 1922 to 1923. In 1937, Gund was elected a director of the Cleveland Trust Company (a savings bank established in 1896), Under Gund's leadership, by 1967 the bank had more than $2 billion in assets, Gund was "extraordinarily conservative" when it came to business. ==Philanthropic work and memorials==

Gund became a frequent giver of large charitable gifts beginning in 1937. In 1952, Gund established The George Gund Foundation. He divided his $200 million ($ in dollars) fortune into three trusts during his lifetime. The foundation ended 1953 with $166,878 ($ in dollars) in assets, but grew to about $30 million ($ in dollars) in assets by 1960. Disbursement of funds to various causes left the George Gund Foundation with just $16.4 million ($ in dollars) in assets by 1964. At Gund's death in November 1966, his estate was worth about $24.5 million ($ in dollars) after the payment of debts and fees. The bulk of his estate went to the George Gund Foundation, whose assets rose to just over $40 million ($ in dollars). Gund served on the Board of Overseers of Harvard University, was a trustee of Kenyon College, and was a member of the advisory lay board of directors of John Carroll University. A number of buildings and places are named for Gund, due to his philanthropic efforts. Among these are: George Gund Hall at Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Gund Hall at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, and Gund Theater at the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. ==Death==

George Gund died of leukemia at the Cleveland Clinic on November 15, 1966. ==Personal life==

George Gund purchased a large cattle ranch in Nevada, In a New York Times article about Agnes Gund, Agnes addressed her father's personal life. "He didn't get married until he was 48 years old, Ms. Gund said, and there were whispers that he was gay. What Ms. Gund said she knew was that "he didn't like women so much, and I was one of those, so he didn't like me.' " On May 23, 1936, She was the granddaughter of Henry Bedell Laidlaw, the founder of one of the first investment banking houses in New York City, Laidlaw & Company. Gund purchased a large home in Beachwood, a wealthy suburb of Cleveland, ==Descendants==

Gund distributed most of his fortune to his children through trusts during his lifetime. In 1991, Agnes Gund was named president of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She stepped down in 2002. Graham Gund is the founder and owner of Graham Gund Architects, an architectural design firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. An award-winning architect and noted art collector, he has designed numerous important buildings and residences, including the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Sidney Harman Hall in Washington, D.C., and overseen numerous redevelopment projects, such as the refurbishment of historic Faneuil Hall. He is also a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Geoffrey Gund taught at the Dalton School in New York City until his retirement in 2013 and was president of The George Gund Foundation until his retirement in 2019. Louise Gund is a Tony Award-winning theater producer, environmentalist, women's activist, and philanthropist. ==References==