The man at the helm of Sears, Roebuck and Company when the retailer built the Chicago high-rise that bears its name has died. Arthur H Wood was 93.
Family members say Wood died on Sunday at his home in Lake Forest of complications from pneumonia and heart failure.
Wood’s signature is on the last beam used to build the Sears Tower. The country’s tallest building was completed in 1973.
Wood was born in Chicago and grew up in Highland Park. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1937, he did a tour in the United States Army as a lieutenant colonel during World War II.
He joined Sears in 1946, working his way up through the legal division and becoming president in 1968.
He was elected chairperson and chief executive in 1973 and held those posts until his retirement in 1978. He remained a director until 1983.
Wood guided Sears through a difficult time of transition in its history, marked by reduced profits and a plunging stock price.
”He faced a change in merchandising,” said his son, Art Wood Jnr. ”The whole catalogue wasn’t what it used to be. He had to start thinking strategically about where merchandising was heading.”
His wife, Pauline Palmer, died in 1984. She was the granddaughter of Potter Palmer, founder of the Palmer House hotel in Chicago.
He is survived by two children, seven grandchildren and a great-granddaughter. A memorial service will be held on Thursday at First Presbyterian Church in Lake Forest. — Sapa-AP