Richard E. "Dick" Jacobs (June 16, 1925 – June 5, 2009) was an American businessman and real estate developer who co-founded the Jacobs Entertainment, Richard E. Jacobs Group, and owner of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive ...

from 1986-1999.

Biography

Jacobs was born in 1925 in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city ...

Hevesi, Dennis
"Richard E. Jacobs, Former Owner of Cleveland Indians, Dies at 83"
''

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'', 6 June 2009 In 1943, he served in the Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1949, he graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

with a degree in business administration and accepted a job with a development company in Akron. In 1955, he and his brother, David H. Jacobs, started a general contracting company that concentrated on the building of small strip malls. The company grew rapidly and by 1992, the Jacobs Group ranked fourth in the nation in the development and management of enclosed malls owning 40 malls in 16 states outright; they also owned 31 Wendy's fast-food restaurants and several

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. The Jacobs Group company builds and leases shopping centers, offices, and hotels. Among its properties are Key Tower and Westgate Mall in Cleveland, Ohio, and Triangle Town Center in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the South ...

. His company also built Westland Mall, Northland Mall, and Eastland Mall in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

. Along with his brother, Jacobs was also well known for owning the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) from 1986 to 1999. The Jacobs built and opened Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio in 1994. The ballpark bore his family name from its opening in 1994 until early 2008. Jacobs' tenure as Indians owner marked one of the team's most successful periods in franchise history the team went 1119-1080 during the regular season, and 25-22 during the postseason, having reached the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

on two occasions (

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake strike ...

, and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

), and winning American League Central Division championships in five consecutive seasons (1995-1999). Under Jacobs ownership the Indians also hosted the 1997

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

. Jacobs was a co-owner with his son, Jeffrey Jacobs, of Jacobs Entertainment, a casino and racetrack company after they merged companies in 2002.

Cleveland Clinic Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921, it runs a 170-acre (69 ha) campus in Cleveland, ...

's Richard E. Jacobs Health Center in Avon, Ohio bears his name. Jacobs died on June 5, 2009 after a long illness at his Westlake home. The funeral was held at the

Rocky River Rocky River may refer to: Localities *Rocky River, Ohio, USA * Rocky River, New South Wales near Uralla, Australia Electorates *Electoral district of Rocky River (South Australia) Streams In Australia: * Rocky River (New South Wales) * R ...

United Methodist Church.Cleveland plain Dealer: "Quiet leader saved Indians: Richard Jacobs, 1925-2009" by Bill Lubinger
June 06, 2009 He was buried at Lakewood Park Cemetery in Rocky River, Ohio.

Awards and honors

As Indians owner

*Two-time American League Champion

*Five-time American League Central Division Champion (

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school s ...

) * Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame (class of 2009)

As a businessman

*2009

Downtown Cleveland Downtown Cleveland is the central business district of Cleveland, Ohio. The economic and symbolic center of the city and the Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, it is Cleveland's oldest district, with its Public Square laid out ...

Alliance Ruth Ratner Miller Award (for his contributions in developing the downtown area - awarded posthumously)Jacobs wins award - Cleveland.com
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References

External links

The Richard E. Jacobs Group

Encyclopedia of Cleveland article about Richard's brother David and the Jacobs Group
* Ocker, Sheldon

''

Akron Beacon Journal The ''Akron Beacon Journal'' is a morning newspaper in Akron, Ohio, United States. Owned by Gannett, it is the sole daily newspaper in Akron and is distributed throughout Northeast Ohio. The paper's coverage focuses on local news. The Beacon J ...

'', 5 June 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacobs, Richard 1925 births 2009 deaths American chief executives American real estate businesspeople American United Methodists Major League Baseball executives Cleveland Indians executives Cleveland Indians owners Businesspeople from Cleveland Burials at Lakewood Park Cemetery 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Methodists