Norwood native, financier Carl Lindner, Jr. passes away

The Cincinnati Enquirer and other local media are reporting that Norwood native Carl Lindner, Jr. died at Christ hospital yesterday after being transferred there from Jewish Hospital. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance from his Indian Hill home at about 3:30 a.m. because he was having trouble breathing and had a weak pulse.

Born in 1919, Carl Lindner dropped out of high school to help run his family’s Norwood milk and ice cream store. He and his brothers grew that business into United Dairy Farmers, a chain with more than 200 stores.

Lindner then moved beyond ice cream into financial interests in 1959, acquiring savings and loans and then moving into the insurance business in 1971. His corporate empire, American Financial Group, bought Chiquita Brands International in 1984. Lindner ran Chiquita until 2001. He is Chairman of Great American Insurance Company and was last seen at the dedication of the Great American Tower in January of this year.

Mr. Lindner never forgot his Norwood roots. He expressed his love and support of our city by making numerous financial gifts to various causes. We’re going to try to get a more complete list of his contributions, but we do know of a few. Several years ago, he paid for new Norwood Police radios after seeing a media report about the need, and he contributed a sizable amount of money to help maintain Lindner Park. He also made annual contributions to a local nonprofit that we were told he did not want publicized.

Click here for Channel 9’s story about Mr. Lindner, click for Channel 5’s coverage, and click here for the Business Courier's article.