Gary Campbell Comer (December 10, 1927 – October 4, 2006) was the founder of

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

clothing retailer

Lands' End Lands' End is an American clothing and home decor retailer founded in 1963 and based in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, that specializes in casual clothing, luggage, and home furnishings. The majority of the company's business is conducted through mail ...

.Dennis Hevesi
"Gary C. Comer, 78, Founder of Lands’ End, Dies,"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 6, 2006.

Early life

Born on the

South Side of Chicago The South Side is an area of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It lies south of the city's Loop area in the downtown. Geographically, it is the largest of the three sides of the city that radiate from downtown, with the other two being the north and we ...

in the Grand Crossing neighborhood, Comer graduated from the Paul Revere Elementary School in 1942 and Hyde Park High School in 1946. From 1950 to 1960, he worked as a

copywriter Copywriting is the act or occupation of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. The product, called copy or sales copy, is written content that aims to increase brand awareness and ultimately persuade a person or ...

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...

in Chicago. After quitting, he traveled around Europe for a year, and then, having been an avid sailor from childhood, he began his own business supplying sailing equipment.Rick Kogan
"Gary Comer: 1927 - 2006,"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', October 5, 2006.

Lands' End

In the Spring of 1963, Comer founded

, along with his close friend

Robert Halperin Robert Sherman "Bob" Halperin (January 26, 1908 – May 8, 1985), nicknamed "Buck", was an American Star class sailor, and Olympic bronze medalist and Pan American Games gold medalist. He was also a college and National Football League (NFL) fo ...

, Richard Stearns, and two of Stearns' employees. They started it originally as a retailer of sailing supplies and equipment (based on a mail order equipment business begun a year earlier). Comer served as president through 1990 (including following Lands' End's registration as a public company), when he stepped down from active management. He remained a major shareholder until Lands' End was acquired by

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...

in 2002.

Philanthropy

Comer was a long-time

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, donating money to causes including children's health care, education and the study of global climate change. He opened the Gary Comer Youth Center which serves as the anchor institution to Gary Comer Middle School and Gary Comer College Prep, a campus of the Noble Network of Charter Schools. In 2011, the Gary Comer Youth Center and Gary Comer College Prep won the

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner's late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bru ...

silver medal. Comer was a major contributor to the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

, providing more than $84 million in donations leading to the establishment and expansion of the Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago. He also donated to

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in support of geochemistry research at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The Gary C. Comer Geochemistry Building at the Lamont Observatory is named in his honor.

Death

Comer succumbed to

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

on October 4, 2006, at his home in Chicago surrounded by his family.

References

External links

University of Chicago News Office Article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comer, Gary 1927 births 2006 deaths Businesspeople from Chicago American retail chief executives Deaths from prostate cancer University of Chicago people American male sailors (sport) Star class sailors 20th-century American businesspeople American philanthropists