Plastics industry legend Jon Huntsman Sr. dies

The plastics industry lost a legend on Feb. 2 when Jon M. Huntsman, founder and chairman emeritus of Huntsman Corp., died. He was 80.

Huntsman died at his home in Salt Lake City, surrounded by family. He had stepped down as executive chairman of the firm on Dec. 31. Huntsman's son Peter, who serves as the firm's president and CEO, was named chairman Jan. 1.

Jon Huntsman Sr. founded Huntsman Corp. in Salt Lake City in 1970 as a plastic foam packaging maker. The firm's early products included polystyrene egg cartons and the iconic EPS clamshell for McDonald's Big Mac.

Huntsman Corp. expanded through a series of strategic acquisitions and at one point was a major supplier of PS resin. The firm now employs 10,000 and has annual sales of around $7 billion, ranking as a world-scale producer of polyurethanes, pigments, advanced materials, performance products and textile effects.

In a Huntsman Corp. news release, officials said that Huntsman was “widely regarded as one of his generation's great industrialists” and that he “leaves behind an extraordinary legacy.”

Jon Huntsman received numerous industry awards in his long career, including membership in the Plastics Hall of Fame and a leadership award for lifetime achievement from the American Chemical Society.

Huntsman also in 1995 contributed $100 million to establish the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City. The institute has been a pioneer in genetic research and treatment and is a world-renowned cancer institute and hospitals.

“In his heart, Mr. Huntsman was first a philanthropist, and his life's ambition much greater than business,” company officials said in the release. “His mission was to find a cure for cancer and alleviate its ravaging effects on mankind.”

“Some 10,000 Huntsman employees today mourn the loss of our founder,” Peter Huntsman said in the release. “Dad loved to visit our sites around the world.

“Many of our employees knew him personally, and he knew many of them by name,” he added. “All respected him deeply.

“They regarded my father as their personal coach, mentor and friend. While never a chemist, he knew more about human chemistry than anyone I have ever met. His passion was building a great company from assets and people that others had seen less value in than he.”

Peter Huntsman also said that his father “leaves behind a great company, but even more so, a legacy of optimism, ethical behavior and philanthropy that will serve as his greatest accomplishments.”

Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney posted a tribute to Huntsman on Facebook, saying Huntsman's legacy will be “as a healer of men.”

“From providing care and employment to people in earthquake-ravaged Armenia to building libraries of learning here at home, Jon was relentlessly devoted to helping others,” Romney wrote. “Ann and I will profoundly miss our good friend's broad smile, his hearty handshake and his example of faith, honor, and integrity.”

The Huntsman Cancer Foundation is accepting donations in Jon Huntsman's memory.

Details from Huntsman's life seem almost to come from a Hollywood script. His father was a teacher, and Huntsman grew up in meager surroundings. In his high school days, Huntsman owned only two shirts and sometimes worked picking potatoes.

Through academics, he earned a scholarship to the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Huntsman served in the U.S. Navy after graduating from Wharton.

Shortly after starting his own business, Huntsman left to serve in Washington with the Nixon administration from 1971-72.

Later in life, Huntsman's son Jon Jr., served as governor of Utah and ran for U.S. president in 2012. Jon Huntsman Jr. currently serves as U.S. ambassador to Russia. Huntsman's son Paul is the owner of The Salt Lake Tribune newspaper.

The family also went through a drama in 1987 when son James was kidnapped before being rescued by FBI agents.

In all, Huntsman was the father of nine children, as well as 56 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. He had been married to his wife Karen since 1959.

Huntsman also was a devout Mormon, and for many years was a high-ranking official in that church.

Ed Holland, president and CEO of resin distribution firm M. Holland Co., was friends with Jon Huntsman for almost 30 years. In an email to Plastics News, Holland said that Huntsman “was a great person, not just for the plastics and petrochemicals industry.”

Huntsman “was a great humanitarian first and foremost,” Holland added. “He believed in family and church, country, and the relentless pursuit of the free markets to create wealth that then could be used to benefit mankind.”

“His leadership and enthusiasm will be missed by all that knew him and were affected by his presence.”

Distribution market veteran Alan Woll has memories of Jon Huntsman teaching him how to ski at customer events that Huntsman hosted for many years in Park City, Utah.

Huntsman Corp. was a PS supplier for firms that Woll worked for in northeast Ohio and later for Network Polymers, the distribution firm that he owned for 27 years.

In a Feb. 7 phone interview, Woll said that Huntsman “was very charismatic and warm — he was a great man.”

Huntsman “liked to entertain, and even though we weren't a very big company, he always treated us well,” Woll added. “There was only one Jon Huntsman.”

Former Huntsman Corp. executive Don Olsen also had fond memories of Jon Huntsman. “I think we all thought [Huntsman] would be around forever,” said Olsen, who worked closely with Huntsman as the firm's senior vice president of communications and public affairs. “He was almost bigger than life.”

Olsen spent 18 years with Huntsman Corp. before retiring in 2006. “Probably to me, [Jon Huntsman] was best known for having a big heart,” he said in a Feb. 7 phone interview. “He had a heart as big as all outdoors. Customers and suppliers wanted to do business with us because of him and what he did with the proceeds he made from the business.”

Olsen also praised Huntsman's business acumen.

“Sometimes we'd look at these deals he wanted to do and say ‘Really?'” Olsen said. “But he was a visionary entrepreneur who could see the big picture that the rest of us couldn't see.”

When his decision to step down as executive chairman was announced, Jon Huntsman said that it was “a high honor to turn the chairmanship role over to Peter Huntsman, who I consider to be one of the world's outstanding CEOs.”

He added that Huntsman Corp. “will continue to experience its sound growth and strong financial controls under Peter's experienced oversight.”

“It has been both a great challenge and a special privilege to be chairman for almost half a century,” Jon Huntsman said at the time.