The eldest son of a legendary fundster, and head of his father's foundation, passed away over the weekend.

On Tuesday the John Templeton Foundation revealed that its chairman and president, John "Jack" M. Templeton Jr. died at his Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania home on Saturday, May 16, at the age of 75. Templeton's daughter Heather Templeton Dill said that her father died of cancer.

The Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal twice, the Washington Post, and a host of other publications all covered the news of Dr. Templeton's death.

A retired pediatric surgeon, Dr. Templeton left medicine 20 years ago to manage the foundation, and took it over when his father, growth mutual fund legend Sir John Templeton, died in 2008. The foundation's endowment has grown to $3.34 billion, and it offers grants on "science and the big questions, character and virtue development, individual freedom and free enterprise, genetics, exceptional cognitive talent and genius, and the Templeton Prize," a $1.7-million prize (meant to exceed the Nobel prizes) that "honors a living person who has made exceptional contributions to affirming life's spiritual dimension."

(The elder Templeton created Templeton Funds in 1954 and sold it to Franklin Group in 1992; combined they are now publicly-traded Franklin Resources and use the combined brand of Franklin Templeton.)

Jack Templeton was born on February 19, 1940 in New York City. He was the oldest of three children and was a Presbyterian. He is survived by: his wife Josephine (Pina), a retired pediatric anesthesiologist; two daughters and two sons-in-law; six grandchildren; a brother; and a brother-in-law.

Visitation will be at Chadwick McKinney Funeral Home in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, from 5 to 7pm on Wednesday, May 27, and the family will hold a private funeral service in Winchester, Tennessee. The family is directing donations to the American Trauma Society. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE