Obituary for David A. Straz, Jr.

David A. Straz, Jr., a retired Tampa banker and billionaire philanthropist, who was a 21-year communicator member of the National Press Club, died Nov. 18 in Tampa.  He was 77.

Straz, who lost a bid for mayor of Tampa earlier this year, died in his sleep while on a fishing trip with friends. He started his career sweeping floors at a Milwaukee bank and went on to build and sell a chain of banks in Wisconsin and Florida, retiring to run a major charitable foundation supporting education and the arts.  He was ambassador-at-large and honorary consul for the Republic of Liberia and donated $1.5 million to renovate and refurbish a technical and vocational college in Monrovia. 

Straz graduated from Marquette University in 1965 with a degree in business administration and attended law school until he borrowed enough money to buy a small Wisconsin bank when he was 26. He sold the banking chains he built to U.S. Bank, Bank of America, and Fifth Third Bank.  His many civic roles included being a past chairman of the board of Marquette University, the University of Tampa, Carthage College and Tampa General Hospital. He served as a trustee and director of the Metropolitan Opera, Lowry Park Zoo Foundation, the Tampa Yacht & Country Club, the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts and the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy in Washington, D.C.  He recently joined the Wake Forest University Law Board of Visitors.

Buildings bearing his name include the University of Tampa's largest residence hall; Carthage College's science center in Kenosha, Wis.;  Marquette University's college of business administration building and its 14-story residence hall; the manatee hospital at Tampa's Lowry Park Zooand Tampa's Berkeley Preparatory School field house.

Survivors include his wife, Catherine Louisa Lowry; daughter, Keebler Jerome; and brother, Christopher.