Biographies

John James Jachym

Name:
John James Jachym

Born:
May 9, 1918

Joined AGB:
1958

Primary Dept/Div:
Corporate Finance

Primary Office:
Chicago

John J. Jachym was born in 1918 in Youngstown, Ohio. He graduated from high school in South Dayton, NY and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1940. He worked as a reporter while concurrently scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals. He became friends with many of the leading sports journalists of the day and then with major league football and baseball regulators and owners. In 1941 he joined the USMC, became a Captain, fought in the South Pacific, and earned the Silver Star. After the war. in his twenties, he bought and sold the Jamestown baseball club and joined the Detroit Tigers organization. Later, Jachym bought 40% of the Washington Senators with the view to being involved in management, but was rebuffed by Clark Griffith, who owned 44%. John later sold his interest at a substantial profit, and then purchased some small manufacturing concerns. Soon he came to Chicago where he joined a a small brokerage firm and then joined A.G. Becker in 1958 as a Vice President. In 1961, John became a golf enthusiast and began to be active with the PGA for more than 37 years. In the meanwhile, at Becker, he arrranged various mergers and acquisitions, including the sale of the Milwaukee baseball club to a group of Chicagoans who moved the team to Atlanta. John left Becker in 1964 to form his own financial consulting firm. He served as an official American observer at 18 Ryder cups and played golf with many celebrities including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Bob Hope, and others. In later life, John and his wife Audrey lived in Charlottesville, the Village of Golf, Florida, and Chautauqua.

Obituary:
John James Jachym, 87, died of cancer in Charlottesville VA on May 20, 2005. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was survived by his widow, Audrey; a son; two daughters; four grandsons and a granddaughter,