Harold Fowler McCormick was born in Chicago May 2, 1872, to inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick (1809–1884) and philanthropist Nancy Fowler (1835–1923).[2][3]
As an officer of the Aero Club of Illinois, founded on February 10, 1910, McCormick became the third president in 1912, following Octave Chanute and James E. Plew.[5][6]
In 1914, McCormick, Plew, and Bion J. Arnold attempted to form a commuter airline which they announced would begin service in May, "using seaplanes to ferry passengers between various North Shore suburbs and Grant Park and the South Shore Country Club, of which he was a founder. Lake Shore Airline, which had two seaplanes, was intended to be a profit-making venture charging a steep twenty-eight-dollar round-trip fare between Lake Forest and downtown Chicago on four daily scheduled circuits. However, Chicago's irregular weather, especially the crosswinds, made a shamble of schedules, and the airline disappeared before the end of the year."[7][8]
John Rockefeller McCormick (1897–1901), who died from Scarlet fever.
Editha McCormick (1903–1904), who also died young.
Harold Fowler McCormick Jr. (1898–1973), who married Anne Urquhart Brown "Fifi" (née Potter) Stillman (1879–1969), who had previously been married to James A. Stillman, and was the daughter of James Brown Potter and Mary Cora Urquhart.[10]
Mathilde McCormick (1905–1947),[11] who married Wilheim Max Oser (1877–1942), a Swiss riding instructor, in April 1923.[12]
After his divorce from Edith, and before his second marriage, McCormick sought to fortify himself by undergoing an operation by Serge Voronoff, a surgeon who specialized in transplanting animal glands into aging men with impotency.[13] In 1922, McCormick married Polish opera singer Ganna Walska.[14] They divorced in 1931.
McCormick's grave at Graceland Cemetery
McCormick died on October 16, 1941, of a cerebral hemorrhage, at his home in Beverly Hills, California.[3][15] He was buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago.
Legacy
Orson Welles claimed that McCormick's lavish promotion of Walska's opera career—despite her renown as a terrible singer—was a direct influence on the screenplay for Citizen Kane, wherein the titular character does much the same for his second wife.[16]
^Young, David M., "Chicago Aviation: An Illustrated History", Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, Illinois, Library of Congress card number 2002033803, ISBN0-87580-311-3, page 54.
^Young, David M., "Chicago Aviation: An Illustrated History", Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, Illinois, Library of Congress card number 2002033803, ISBN0-87580-311-3, page 56.
^Chicago Tribune, January 25, 1918; Harold F. McCormick, "From My Experiences Concerning Aviation," speeches of December 1 and 8, 1917, before the Psychological Club of Zurich, Switzerland, McCormick Collection, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison.
^Young, David M., "Chicago Aviation: An Illustrated History", Northern Illinois University Press, Dekalb, Illinois, Library of Congress card number 2002033803, ISBN0-87580-311-3, page 57.
^Currey, Josiah Seymour (April 27, 2017). "Harold Fowler McCormick". Chicago: Its History and its Builders. Vol. 4. Jazzybee Verlag. ISBN9783849648978. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
^Grossman, Ron. (March 31, 1985) Chicago TribuneLost lake shore drive: Mourning an era; Mansions of rich and famous yield to giant condos. Section: Real estate; Page 1.
children of John Davison Rockefeller III children of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller children of Laurance Spelman Rockefeller children of Winthrop Rockefeller children of David Rockefeller children of Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller
_at_Graceland_Cemetery,_Chicago.jpg)
