Del E. Webb: The All American Arizona Legend

The press in covering the phenomenal accomplishments of Del E. Webb as he rose from teen-age carpenter to Chairman of the Board of a multi-faceted corporation with over 8,000 employees has hailed him as “An Amazing Arizona Legend”... “That master planner and builder” . . . “An institution the best known of the big time developers” . . . “The nation's chief developer of retirement towns.” He has been co-owner of the New York Yankees, a TIME magazine cover subject, the recipient of honors from uni versities he could not have afforded to attend in his youth.

Del Webb was born in Fresno, California in 1899. When his father's business suffered reversals he dropped out of school at the age of 13 and began working as a carpenter. In 1927, after several lean years, he loaded his old Nash car with his carpenter tools, his pitcher's glove, a few possessions and set out for Phoenix, Arizona.

His subsequent professional baseball career was cut short after a collision at home plate and a long bout with typhoid. After he recovered he again turned to carpentry and worked hard perfecting the skills of his trade. Del Webb was not only a good carpenter but he had a talent for figuring costs and time and a knack for gathering the best craftsmen around him. Thus a construction company was born.

In those early days the jobs came small, but he tackled them with enthusiasm and determination. First came grocery stores, filling stations and drug stores. Next came department stores, statebuildings, high school and college buildings. Eventually he was building military bases, hospitals, shopping centers and office buildings.

During these years Webb began dreaming about a new city, a town for people who were past 50, a complete city planned with their particular needs and desires in mind. In 1960 his planned city became a reality Sun City opened to a responsive public.

The Del E. Webb Corporation, through the years, has gained national prominence, constructing major projects such as the New York Madison Square Garden, Los Angeles County Art Museum, Anaheim Stadium, the International Airport at Kansas City and the U.S. Pavilion at the New York World's Fair. In Phoenix, Webb's building team constructed the impressive Civic Plaza and the trio of skyscrapers comprising the Rosenzweig Center, which Webb co-owns and operates.

In recent years Arizona businesses, institutions and community service organizations have extended recognition to Del Webb for his many contributions to the state. Of all his achievements and successes, the one which gives him the most satisfaction, the one he takes greatest pride in is Sun City. It's evident in the comradeship between Sun Citians and Webb during his frequent visits.

In his words, “When some Sun City resident, perhaps a total stranger, buttonholes me on a visit to say that life in Sun City has made his or her retirement years well worth living . . . well, to me, that says it all.”