James Crown, a scion of one of Chicago’s leading philanthropic families, died on Sunday, his 70th birthday, after the vehicle he was in crashed into an impact barrier at the Aspen Motorsports Park in Woody Creek, Colorado.
Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.James Crown, then-University of Chicago board of trustees chair, on May 30, 2007, in downtown Chicago.
“Tremendously civic-minded, Jim was kind, and his passion for caring was unending,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a tweet early Monday. “MK and I were saddened to learn of the passing of our friend Jim Crown.”Born James Schine Crown in Chicago, Crown was the grandson of industrialist Henry Crown, who in 1919 founded Material Service Corp., which later merged with aerospace and defense firm General Dynamics. Crown’s father was longtime civic leader Lester Crown.
He served on the boards of several major corporations, at one time being lead director of Sara Lee Corp. At the time of his death he was on the board of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and recent filings showed that he was bank’s largest insider owner, with a $1.72 billion stake. In the political arena, Crown had been a major supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential run. He co-chaired Obama’s 2008 Illinois finance committee and ranked among his top campaign bundlers. Crown’s support netted him and his wife an invitation to Obama’s sixth state dinner in 2012, in which the president hosted then-British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife.
Crown also served on the boards of General Dynamics Corp., the Museum of Science and Industry and the Aspen Institute. “The countless hours that he has spent in that effort will be a part of his legacy as well,” she said. “When you think of the Chicago business community and people who don’t just talk but devote their energy and time and action, Jim’s name is at the top of the list. He’s a role model for what civic leadership should look like.”
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