George Dunton Widener, Jr.

George Dunton Widener Jr. was an American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner; one of only five people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Born into the prominent and wealthy Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was the younger son of George Dunton Widener and Eleanor Elkins, and brother to Harry Elkins Widener (1885-1912) and Eleanor Widener (1891-1953). His grandfathers, the traction (streetcar) magnate Peter A. B. Widener (1834-1915) and the oil & steel financier William Lukens Elkins (1832-1903), were long-time friends and business partners. At age 23, he lost both his father and brother when the RMS Titanic sank in the Atlantic on her maiden voyage on April 15, 1912.

In 1917 he married divorcée Jessie Sloane Dodge, daughter of Henry T. Sloane and Jessie Robbins of New York City, former wife of Willam Earl Dodge, and became stepfather to Diana Dodge.

Greatly influenced by his uncle Joseph E. Widener, head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Florida's Hialeah Park racetrack, he became involved in thoroughbred horse racing. He owned Old Kenney Farm (now Green Gates Farm) in Lexington, Kentucky.

From 1960 to 1968 he served as president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

George D. Widener Jr. died in 1971 at his Erdenheim Farm, in Whitemarsh Township, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. He left the farm and his personal fortune to his nephew, Fitz Eugene Dixon, Jr.

During World War I he served as a 1st Lieutenant in the United States Army's Quartermaster Corps, being mustered in on May 10, 1918, and being honorably discharged on December 13, 1918.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=96352177 Businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner. Mr. Widener was the son of George Dunton Widener Sr. (1861-1912) and Eleanor Elkins Widener Rice. He was the grandson of Peter A. B. Widener (1834-1915); an streetcar traction magnate; and William L. Elkins (1832-1903); an oil and steel financier. When George Widener was twenty-three, he lost both his father and brother aboard the sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic on April 15, 1912. Educated in private schools, Mr. Widener became interested in horse-breeding through the influence of his uncle, Joseph Widener, head of New York's Belmont Park. Over some fifty-years, Mr. Widener and his wife Jessie Sloane Widener, daughter of New York millionaire Henry T. Sloane, would win 1,243 horse races and over $9 million in purses. From 1960 to 1968 George Widener served as president of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Mr. Widener also became the honorary chairman of the New York Racing Association, the Jockey Club, the National Museum of Racing, and served as chairman of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1962, Mr. Widener's horse Jaipur won the Belmont stakes. Mr. Widener spent winters at his residence near Philadelphia, Erdenheim Farm in the township of Whitemarsh, and spent summers in Saratoga, New York or at his residence in Newport, Rhode Island, 'Land's End'. Mr. Widener served on the board of numerous charities, museums and hospitals in Philadelphia, New York and Washington D.C. The Wideners were frequently seen at their box at Hialeah during the racing season, and were known for entertaining such luminaries as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Jessie Sloane Widener died in 1968, followed by her husband in 1971. George Widener's funeral service was held at St. Thomas Church, in Whitemarsh, near his Erdenheim Farm in Chestnut Hill, the site of a Revolutionary War battle between George Washington's troops and the British Army.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 16 2019, 19:23:52 UTC