FedEx founder Fred Smith, a Marine Corps veteran who revolutionized package delivery, dies at 80

MEMPHIS Tenn Fred Smith the FedEx Corp founder who revolutionized the express delivery industry has died the company reported He was FedEx started operating in delivering small parcels and documents more speedily than the postal utility Over the next half-century Smith a Marine Corps veteran oversaw the increase of a company that became something of an economic bellwether because so a great number of other companies rely on it Memphis Tennessee-based FedEx became a global transportation and logistics company that averages million shipments per business day Smith stepped down as CEO in but remained executive chairman Smith a graduate of Yale University used a business theory he came up with in college to create a delivery system based on coordinated air cargo flights centered on a main hub a hub and spokes system as it became known The company also played a major role in the shift by American business and industry to a greater use of time-sensitive deliveries and less dependence on large inventories and warehouses Smith once advised The Associated Press that he came up with the name Federal Express because he needed the company to sound big and major when in fact it was a start-up operation with a future far from assured At the time Smith was trying to land a major shipping contract with the Federal Reserve Bank that didn t work out In the beginning Federal Express had small aircraft operating out of the Memphis International Airport flying packages to U S cities Smith s father also named Frederick built a small fortune in Memphis with a regional bus line and other business ventures Following college Smith joined the U S Marines and was commissioned a second lieutenant He left the military as a captain in after two tours in Vietnam where he was decorated for bravery and wounds received in combat He recounted The Associated Press in a interview that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines not what he learned at Yale Getting Federal Express started was no easy task Overnight shipments were new to American business and the company had to have a fleet of planes and a system of interconnecting air routes in place from the get-go Former President George W Bush circulated a message in which he praised Smith as one of the finest Americans of our generation and FedEx as an innovative company that helped supercharge our financial sector Smith was a minority owner of the Washington Commanders NFL company until when owner Daniel Snyder and his family bought out the shares held by Smith Dwight Schar and Bob Rothman His son Arthur was a head coach with the Atlanta Falcons for three seasons and is as of now the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers Though one of Memphis best-known and largest part prominent citizens Smith generally avoided the residents spotlight devoting his energies to work and family Despite his low profile Smith made a cameo appearance in the movie Castaway starring Tom Hanks The movie was about a FedEx employee stranded on an island Memphis has lost its majority of major citizen Fred Smith noted U S Rep Steve Cohen of Tennessee citing Smith s aid for everything from the University of Memphis to the city s zoo FedEx is the engine of our commercial sector and Fred Smith was its visionary founder But more than that he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city Smith rarely publicized the donations he and his family made but he agreed to speak with AP in about a gift to the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy arrangement members pursuing studies in STEM The thing that s interested me are the institutions and the causes not the naming or the recognition Smith declared at the time Solicited what it means to contribute to the general good he replied America is the the bulk generous country in the world It s amazing the charitable contributions that Americans make every year Everything from the smallest things to these massive medical care initiatives and the Gates Foundation and everything in between he declared I think if you ve done well in this country it s pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the constituents interest And all this is in the great tradition of American philanthropy Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter