Edward Ross Obituary

Ross, Edward W. 12/21/20-02/19/17 A native of Chicago, graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1943 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and entered the family business, Economy Mechanical Industries, founded by his father. His success as a mechanical contractor led him to his association with Jerry Wexler in 1950 on the construction of the Executive House Hotel located at I East Wacker Drive. After that project they became partners and in 1960 purchased control of Jupiter Oils which they later renamed Jupiter Industries. This became the catalyst from which they began buying, investing in various companies and developing new construction projects. Economy Mechanical Industries merged into a division of Jupiter Industries which became a conglomerate in manufacturing, transportation, gas distribution, construction and real estate development. Having served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Jupiter Industries for 30 years, Ross together with Wexler participated in the development, acquisition and supervision of a multitude of major transactions. In Chicago alone, transactions included the 676 St. Clair office building, Carl Sandburg Village, 2800 Lake Shore Drive, McClurg Court Center, 5455 North Sheridan, 3450 Lake Shore Drive, 525 Hawthorne Place and Outer Drive East. He and Wexler were also involved with the construction of the Holiday Inn Chicago City Centre, Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza, the acquisition of The Drake Hotel and the Palmolive Building, located at 919 North Michigan Avenue, all in Chicago, until Wexler's death in 1992. Other projects have included Juneau Village (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Embassy Suites Southfield (Southfield, Michigan) Minnetonka Radisson (Minnetonka, Minnesota), and the Vista Hotel in New York. Ross was founder and Vice Chairman of Jupiter Realty Corporation and its affiliated real estate companies until 2005 when he became a Principal and Founder of J. L. Woode, Ltd., LLC. Mr. Ross was a partner in the Sun-Times Media Group, Inc., the acquirers of the Chicago Sun-Times. The Members of the Sun-Times Media Holdings, LLC sold their interests in the Chicago Sun-Times in a transaction that occurred in December 2011. Mr. Ross served on the board of directors of several large, public companies. He served as Chairman of the Board of Integon Corporation, a life and property casualty insurance firm in Winston-Salem, North Carolina until the sale of the company to GMAC. Ross was a Director of Huffman Koos, a retail furniture firm and Lake Shore Bank in Chicago, Illinois. Ross was a General Partner of PM Realty Group headquartered in Houston, Texas, and prior to its sale, was a major shareholder, principal, and director of Washington Capital Associates and Washington Capital DUS, in Arlington, Virginia. Mr. Ross served on the Board of Directors of Hostmark Hospitality Group of Schaumburg, Illinois, and Providence-St. Mel School in Chicago, Illinois. He previously served on the Real Estate Advisory board of the Kellogg School of Northwestern University. He was active in charitable endeavors through a family charitable foundation, and in 2007 was honored by IIT with the IIT Collens Alumni Award of Merit. Ross was married to Renee (Stone) for 73 years. She passed away in 2015. His son William passed away in 2016. He is survived by his daughter's Nanci Agostini (Andrew), Ilene Ross and five grandchildren.