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Fred Jacoby

DALLAS—Fred Jacoby, former commissioner of the defunct Southwest Conference, died Saturday at his home following a long fight with cancer. He was 80.

His death was announced in statements issued by the American Southwest Conference and the Lone Star Conference, smaller-school divisions he served before retiring in 2006.

Jacoby was commissioner of the Southwest Conference from 1982-93. The conference dissolved in the mid-1990s when Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor bolted for the Big 12.

Jacoby spent more than 50 years in coaching and athletics administration, including 10 years in high schools and eight years as an assistant football coach at the University of Wisconsin.

He became the first commissioner of the Wisconsin State University Conference (now WIAC) in 1966 and was commissioner of the Mid-American Conference from 1971 until taking the SWC job in 1982.

Jacoby, a native of Logan, Ohio, took over the LSC job in 1994 and added the American Southwest Conference job in 1996. He was the first commissioner of the ASC.

Sam C. Pointer Jr.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Sam C. Pointer Jr., the retired U.S. District Judge who received death threats after his rulings forced school integration in Birmingham in the 1970s, died Saturday. He was 73.

Pointer died at a hospital after suffering from an illness, said his wife, Paula. He had retired from the court about eight years ago after nearly 30 years on the bench and joined the Birmingham law firm of Lightfoot, Franklin & White.

Pointer issued controversial decisions as Birmingham struggled to desegregate its school systems. He ordered the busing of children to achieve integration in the Jefferson County schools.

Because of threats on his life during the school cases, he was placed under round-the-clock protection by deputy U.S. marshals.

Pointer also presided over the complex litigation of some 26,000 silicone-gel breast implant lawsuits in the 1990s.

President Nixon named Pointer in 1970 to the bench for the Northern District of Alabama, the state’s largest federal court district. He served as chief judge of the district from January 1982 until November 1999.

Ken Reardon

MONTREAL—Hall of Fame hockey defenseman Ken Reardon has died following a long illness, the Montreal Canadiens announced Saturday night. He was 86.

Noted for his rugged play, Reardon was a two-time NHL first team All-Star during his seven-year career, which included a pair of Stanley Cup championships. He also earned three second-team All-Star selections.

Reardon, whose career was temporarily halted after he joined the Canadian Army in 1942, retired as a player in 1950 and remained with the Canadiens as a scout, manager and vice president during Montreal’s run of Stanley Cup titles from 1956-60.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966, Reardon finished with 26 goals and 96 assists in 341 NHL games.



John Shedd Reed

CHICAGO—John Shedd Reed, a former railroad executive and grandson of a famed Chicago philanthropist, died Sunday. He was 90.

Reed, one-time chairman and CEO of the Santa Fe Railroad, died of natural causes at his suburban Lake Forest home after being bedridden for several weeks, family members said.

Reed carried a passion for trains from childhood. When he was only 4 years old, he spoke of becoming a locomotive engineer. After graduating from Yale, he applied for an engineer’s job—despite coming from one of Illinois’ most privileged families.

Reed was devastated when a railway company rejected his engineer’s application, saying it didn’t believe a “Yale man could shovel enough coal” to get a train to its destination, his daughter said.

Instead, Reed took a job with Santa Fe’s test department, working his way up to eventually become the company’s chairman and CEO. Reed’s railroad career was interrupted by World War II, when he enlisted in the Navy.

His grandfather, John G. Shedd, made his fortune in the early 20th century as president of the retail giant Marshall Field & Co. and founded Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. At 12, Reed attended the 1929 opening of the Shedd, then among the world’s largest indoor aquariums; in the 1980s, he became president of the aquarium’s board of trustees.

As board president of the Shedd Aquarium from 1984 to 1994, Reed excelled as a fundraiser. He played a central role in raising money for the Shedd’s popular Oceanarium marine mammal addition; it opened in 1991 and was credited with turning around the aquarium’s fortunes.