SARASOTA, FL — John Byron Lovelace, who rose from a storied American frontier heritage to forge a successful international career as a business executive and entrepreneur, died December 31, 2018, in Sarasota, Florida, surrounded by his loving family. Jack, as he was known to all, was 83.
He was born March 25, 1935 in Bozeman, Montana, the only child of Winifred (Story) and Jack Campbell Lovelace. Both his maternal and paternal families were among the state’s earliest and most prominent settlers. His great-grandfather was the legendary cattle baron and real-estate developer Nelson Story, who in 1866 drove the first herd of cattle from Texas to Montana.
Raised in Bozeman, Jack attended the New Mexico Military Institute and went on to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where he earned his B.A. in economics in 1957. He served in the U. S. Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade). With an eye to opportunity overseas, he enrolled in the American Institute for Foreign Trade (known as the “Thunderbird” school), graduating in 1960.
He began his career with the Cummins Engine Company, which in 1963 sent him to develop and oversee various operations abroad. As a young man placed in a challenging leadership role, he directed construction of a major plant in Darlington, England, and later served as Cummins’ general manager for Europe and North Africa.
In 1968 Jack returned to the U.S. and ventured into investment banking, first as vice president of Laird, Inc. (now part of Merrill Lynch). From 1970 to 1983 he was co-founder and general partner of Dryden & Company, a New York-based leveraged buyout firm that negotiated the financing and purchase of companies, then directed their growth and eventual successful sale. He was co-owner and board chairman of Casting Supply House, Inc. from 1983 to 1996. From then on he was founder and president of Ramshorn Properties LLC, a real-estate investment firm, owning and managing multi-family rental properties in New Hampshire.
Jack was happily married for 37 years to Jan Hagen Lovelace. They resided mainly in New York and Connecticut for two decades, and also maintained a home in St. Barts, French West Indies. Later they lived in Hanover, New Hampshire, before settling in Siesta Key, Florida, in 2010. They shared a love of travel, and together took numerous memorable trips (Jack had a special fondness for France, and a flair for the Spanish language). An avid sailor who for many years enjoyed cruising and racing in Long Island Sound and off the coast of New England, he belonged to the University Club of New York, the Larchmont Yacht Club, the New York Yacht Club, and the Norwalk Yacht Club. In recent years he was a member of the Sarasota Yacht Club, serving on the finance committee.
Admired in life for his strength, know-how, charisma, and humor, Jack will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed. In addition to his wife, he is survived by their son, Peter Campbell Lovelace, daughter-in-law Emily, and granddaughters Molly, Maggie, and Annie, all of Atlanta; as well as John Byron Lovelace II (Jack’s son from his first marriage, to Nancy McDonald), daughter-in-law Joyce, and grandsons John and Robb, of Los Angeles.
Donations in his memory may be made to Tidewell Hospice, 5955 Rand Blvd., Sarasota, FL 34238.