Frederick Leon Mandel Jr. (1908–1973) was an American businessman who owned the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) from 1940 to 1947.

Early life

Mandel was the grandson of one of the founders of the Mandel Brothers Department Store. He graduated from York High School and

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order o ...

. He contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

on a trip to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and was confined to an

iron lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator, a medical ventilator, mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when Musc ...

for a period of time. In 1931, Mandel and his brother Leon Mandel II sponsored an expedition led by ornithologist Ernest G. Holt which collected 803 birds, 96 reptiles, and 37 mammals from the

Orinoco Delta The Orinoco Delta is a vast river delta of the Orinoco River, located in eastern Venezuela. Location The Orinoco Delta is one of the eight natural regions of Venezuela. It covers the whole of Delta Amacuro State and a few square kilometers o ...

for the

Field Museum of Natural History The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH), also known as The Field Museum, is a natural history museum in Chicago, Illinois, and is one of the largest such museums in the world. The museum is popular for the size and quality of its educationa ...

Business

Mandel was an executive in his family's department store and in 1934 was elected to the company's board of directors. In 1940, Mandel purchased the Detroit Lions from George A. Richards for $200,000. He was the NFL's first Jewish owner. The 1940s saw the Lions win only 35 games. The low point was when they went 0–11 in

1942 The Uppsala Conflict Data Program project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 4.62 million. However, the Correlates of War estimates that the prior year, 1941, was th ...

. The 1942 team was so bad that they only scored five touchdowns all season, were shut out five times, and never scored more than seven points in a single game. On January 15, 1948, Mandel sold the team to a seven-person syndicate.

Personal life

On March 14, 1935, Mandel married Lois Klafter. They had one son, Stephen. In 1938 the Mandels moved to a French Eclectic house in

Highland Park, Illinois Highland Park is a suburban city located in southeastern Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,176. Highland Park is one of several municipali ...

, designed by Lois' father, David Saul Klafter.Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
/ref> The home, known as the Mr. Fred L. Mandel Jr. House, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on December 22, 2009. The couple divorced in 1944.

Later life

In 1960, Mandel Brothers was sold to

Wieboldt's Wieboldt Stores, Inc., also known as Wieboldt's, did business as a Chicago general retailer between 1883 and 1987. It was founded in 1883 by storekeeper William A. Wieboldt. The flagship location was at One North State Street Store in Chicago. ...

. Mandel and his second wife, Edna, moved to

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, where he operated the Hawaii Stamp & Coin Shop. In 1967, Mandel sold a Hawaiian Missionary at auction for $17,000. Mandel died in 1973.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandel, Fred L. 1908 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American Jews American businesspeople in retailing American stamp dealers Businesspeople from Chicago Businesspeople from Honolulu Detroit Lions owners