Posted on 12/07/2004 1:04:29 PM PST by Pest
He was a major conservative and Republican force.
And no, I am not interested in making a lot of money.
Jay Van Andel was born June 3, 1924, in Grand Rapids, Mich. He is a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School and attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids; Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa; Pratt Business School in Pratt, Kansas; and Yale University Aviation Cadet School in New Haven, Connecticut. He served as a United States Army Air Force Officer from 1942 to 1945 and as a Reserve Officer from 1945 to 1950. In 1952, Van Andel married the former Betty Hoekstra of Grand Rapids. They have four children.
That is wicked....and makes me giggle..
He married the former Betty Hoekstra? Any relation to Republican Congressman Pete Hoekstra from Michigan?
That being said, it's hard to see the word "Amway" and not crack some sort of joke. I didn't think mine was that disrespectful. I apologize if you found it to be.
I clicked on this thread solely to hear comments like this. Freepers never disappoint!
Oh my God,that's funny!
And I do wish his family and friends condolences. I never knew of him and would have no way of knowing that he was such a good man. I just thought a freeper with black humor would tie his industry into this in a humorus but respectful way, and BC did.
I don't know if they are related, but I wouldn't doubt it. There are lots of Hoekstras around here.
It's a massacre!
The truth about AMWAY is ugly. The entire wealth of the founders and their top recruiters was built not on the sale of products, but of inspirational tapes and books they produced. Giving away some of his ill-gotten gains might have eased his guilt, but the guy made enough on others gullibity and insecurity to fatten up the camel he's got to ride through the eye of the needle.
So what's wrong with making money off books and tapes? Sounds like you feel like you got scammed somehow.
The most successful, of course, is Socialist Security.
Not quite, Sparky. The point is that the basic system they preach is not viable, so they exort the victims to attend seminars and meetings and sell them books and tapes. I researched it when a my aunt's husband became obsessed with it. Found vast information on the Web describing the AMWAY universe. He eventually got out of it, after experiencing the kind of perverse pressure and hard selling that was described. If you don't believe me, a good place to start is http://www.angelfire.com/ky/xamway/xamway2.html.
AMWAY is to business as Scientology is to religion.
I vote #3 as comment of the day.
Jay Van Andel, Amway co-founder who championed conservatism, capitalism, dies at 80
December 7, 2004, 3:24 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- Jay Van Andel, a co-founder of Amway Corp. who helped parlay neighborhood soap sales into a billion-dollar business and later became a leading philanthropist for conservative causes, has died. He was 80.
He died Tuesday at his home in Ada, just east of Grand Rapids, according to Amway's parent company, Alticor Inc. The cause of death was not disclosed but Van Andel had Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the central nervous system that involves a degeneration of nerve cells in parts of the brain.
His wife, Betty Van Andel, died Jan. 18 at 82 at the family home on Peter Island in the Caribbean. She had Alzheimer's disease and had been in declining health for some time.
Jay Van Andel and Amway co-founder Richard DeVos reshaped their hometown of Grand Rapids over the years with their investments and donations. Many of the buildings and institutions in Michigan's second-largest city bear one of their names.
"Obviously we were very close to him. He's going to be sorely missed," said DeVos' daughter-in-law, state GOP Chairwoman Betsy DeVos.
The Van Andel and DeVos families gave a combined $95 million between 1990 and 1998 alone.
"We are all saddened by the passing of Jay Van Andel, who was a great family man and a worldwide leader in the business arena," said former President Ford, who grew up in Grand Rapids and was a close friend of Van Andel.
Amway now operates in more than 80 countries and territories around the world, with 13,000 employees and millions of distributors. Privately held by the Van Andel and DeVos families, Alticor Inc. -- formed as Amway's parent company in a 2000 reorganization -- reported sales of $4.1 billion the following year.
Alticor had worldwide sales of $6.2 billion for the year ending Aug. 31, 2004, $1.3 billion more than in 2003, the largest increase year-to-year in the direct-selling company's history. The company said Asia -- and China in particular -- continued to be its primary market and the top region for sales growth.
The Federal Trade Commission charged in 1969 that the Ada-based company was an illegal pyramid, but ruled after a six-year investigation that it wasn't.
The company also has been controversial because of its almost evangelical zeal in promoting free enterprise, and gained attention with DeVos' and Van Andel's high-profile participation in Republican politics.
Much of Van Andel's giving went toward Christian causes, including a creation research station in rural Arizona...
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