J. Willard Marriott

Marriott was born at Marriott Settlement (present-day Marriott-Slaterville, Utah), the second of eight children of Hyrum Willard Marriott and Ellen Morris Marriott. As a child, "Bill", as J. Willard was called, helped to raise sugar beets and sheep on his family's farm. At age 13, Marriott raised lettuce on several fallow acres on the farm and the harvest at summer's end brought $2,000, which Marriott gave to his father. The next year, Hyrum entrusted Marriott, his eldest son, with the sale of a herd of 3,000 sheep, sending him and the sheep unescorted by rail to San Francisco. At the age of 19 and as a participating member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), he undertook a mission for two years, being assigned to New England. Marriott graduated from Weber College (now Weber State University), where he served as student body president, with an associate degree in June 1923 and from the University of Utah, where he affiliated with Phi Delta Theta, with a bachelor's degree in June 1926. After Marriott earned his bachelor's degree, the president of Weber, Aaron Tracy, who had assisted Marriott to enroll there by helping him make up secondary education credits missed due to the Marriott family's ranching efforts, employed him at the school in Ogden. Marriott soon felt the urge, however, to be his own boss. He heard about a cousin's A&W Root Beer franchise and, remembering his experience seeing so many people suffer through the brutal summer heat of Washington, D.C., he decided to look into a venture there. ==Business career==

In 1927, he secured from A&W Root Beer the franchise rights for Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; and Richmond, Virginia; he then moved to Washington to open a nine-stool root beer stand there with his business partner, Hugh Colton. in Arlington, Virginia. The company became Marriott, Inc. in 1967. Two large chains were added to the group, the Big Boy family restaurants in 1967 and Roy Rogers Family Restaurants in 1968. Over the years, Marriott's company interests expanded. Continuing with food services, Marriott eventually invented airline in-flight food service. This segment of their enterprise continues to be a large part of their business, providing food services to many major airlines. Marriott also provides food services to many colleges, elementary schools, and other venues. Management style Marriott was an energetic worker and rarely rested, preferring to run his company. Many attested to the fact that he ate, lived, breathed, and dreamed about how to run and improve his company: ==Legacy==

Marriott's legacy continues today through the continuance of the company he founded and through his community involvement and philanthropy. Marriott was a faithful member of the LDS Church and sought to share the church's teachings with others by placing a copy of the Book of Mormon in each hotel room, alongside a copy of a Gideon Bible—a tradition that has endured. He also donated funds to the church's flagship tertiary educational institution, Brigham Young University (BYU), resulting in the naming of BYU's 19,000-seat multi-purpose arena (Marriott Center) in his honor. While serving as home to the BYU Cougars men's and women's college basketball teams, the center also hosts various cultural events and religious devotionals. BYU's business school, the Marriott School of Business, is named in honor of Marriott. On the campuses of Marriott's alma maters stands the J. Willard Marriott Library at the University of Utah and the Marriott Allied Health Building at Weber State University which houses the Dumke College of Heath Professions. The Bullis School’s library is also named in honor of Marriott. ==Awards and honors==

• 1971 – Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement • 1980 – Silver Buffalo Award • 1988 – Presidential Medal of Freedom == Personal life and relationships==

Marriott and his wife Alice Sheets had two sons, Bill and Richard. Alice was actively involved in the business, starting as the bookkeeper at the root-beer stand and eventually becoming vice president of Marriott Corporation. Despite the demands of the company, she felt her role as a mother to her two sons was her most important calling and balanced the demands of both of her endeavors. Alice was also active in numerous charitable and civic organizations, including serving as a trustee for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Both of their sons remain in the hospitality business. Bill Marriott is currently Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board of Marriott International, while Richard Marriott is Chairman of the board for Host Hotels & Resorts, formerly Host Marriott Corporation. Marriott maintained extensive business connections within his LDS Church heritage and membership. A prominent associate was Michigan Governor George W. Romney, father of U.S. Senator Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts and the Republican nominee for president of the United States in 2012. Marriott was also an active Republican. The family friendship is trans-generational as evidenced by Bill Marriott donating $1 million personally to Restore Our Future, a Romney PAC. Mitt Romney's first name is Willard, after John Willard Marriott. Marriott served for many years, in the late 1940s and 1950s, as president of the LDS Church's Washington Stake, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Marriott divided his time between Washington, D.C., and New Hampshire, spending his summers in the latter. He died from an apparent heart attack at a hospital in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, on August 13, 1985, at the age of 84. ==References==