Philanthropist, business owner was passionate about work, family
In Pittsburgh’s nonprofit community, John Bitzer Jr. was the person everyone wanted at the top of their speed dial.
“He helped to raise the Senator John Heinz History Center from a struggling nonprofit organization into the largest history museum in Pennsylvania and one of the Smithsonian Institution’s best affiliates,” said Andy Masich, president and CEO of the history center.
When Ann Dugan was seeking input and support for a new family business institute at the University of Pittsburgh in 1989, she sought out Mr. Bitzer, then CEO of ABARTA, Inc., a family-owned conglomerate in O’Hara.
“I wanted to create a program for family businesses in Pittsburgh,” she said. “And I heard about this guy who flew to [the University of Southern California] to teach a course there, and I knew I needed to meet him.”
Once she got her foot in the door, Mr. Bitzer agreed to give her 30 minutes of his time, Ms. Dugan recalled.
“That half-hour turned into an hour-and-a-half meeting, and that’s how the Family Enterprise Center got started,” she said. “And 28 years later, he was my largest benefactor.”
A longtime local business owner and philanthropist,
Mr. Bitzer, 83, died March 18 at his home in Fort Worth, Texas, of complications from congestive heart failure.
He came to the Pittsburgh area in 1965 at the urging of his father-in-law, Rolland Adams, who in 1933 founded the company that would later be known as ABARTA — an acronym representing each of Mr. Adams’ three daughters and each of his three sons-in-law.
In 1959, Mr. Bitzer married Mary “Mimi” Adams, whom he met on a blind date. Mimi Adams died in 2004, and Mr. Bitzer married Mary Ella Gabler, of Dallas, in 2007.
Mr. Adams persuaded Mr. Bitzer to join the company, which owned Coca-Cola bottling operations, two newspapers and oil and gas holdings. It expanded under the guidance of Mr. Bitzer, who served as president from 1972 until 1986, when he was named chairman and CEO.
He retired in 1999, and his son John Bitzer III took over as president and CEO. ABARTA continues to be operated by third and fourth generations of the family.
“My dad was very passionate about family businesses,” said the younger Mr. Bitzer, of Indiana Township. “He got interested in studying family businesses, and that’s when he helped found the Family Enterprise Center at Pitt.”
The center eventually morphed into what is now the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence at Pitt, where the elder Mr. Bitzer volunteered on the board, and Ms. Dugan served for many years as its executive director.
“He was there at the beginning, and he was instrumental in every step of the growth,” she said. “And, he was a mentor for me. I thought he was the most amazing, smart, challenging person in the world.”
A longtime board member at the history center, Mr. Bitzer had a knack for knowing when to take a gamble and how far to go, Mr. Masich recalled.
“He was entrepreneurial, and he was a risk taker who was willing to take calculated risks,” he said. “He really knew his stuff. He understood business, inside and out.”
Mr. Bitzer played a key role in the history center’s decision to take over operations of the Meadowcroft
Rockshelter and Historic Village in Washington County at a time when the history center was evolving and determining how it would cut a path into the future, Mr. Masich said.
“It was kind of a risky proposition, but he was one of the people who encouraged us to take on Meadowcroft,” Mr. Masich said. “It’s the oldest site of human habitation in North America and a National Historic Landmark, but it would not be part of the Heinz History Center if it hadn’t been for John Bitzer.”
Mr. Bitzer served on various other governmental and nonprofit boards, including as chairman of the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission from 1969 to 1973 and as a member of the National Arthritis Foundation board.
Also a man of principle, Mr. Bitzer caused a flap in 2003 when he resigned his board seat at Freedom Communications, a familyowned media empire based in Santa Ana, Calif., to protest what he felt was a lack of fairness on the part of a board committee in seeking purchase bids.
“It was a very difficult situation. There was a lot of inter-family conflict, and he felt that the solutions they were looking for did not really serve the interests of all of the shareholders, so he resigned in protest,” his son said.
Mr. Bitzer was a lifelong patron of his alma mater, the University of Southern California, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s degree in business administration.
A native of Hartford, Conn., who played high school basketball, Mr. Bitzer was a die-hard Boston Celtics fan who kept up his love of the game for years.
“I once watched him hit nine consecutive 3-point shots at our house,” his son said. “He was a good basketball player.”
Tall and athletic, he even dwarfed the 6-foot-3-inch Mr. Masich.
“I looked up to him in more ways than one,” he said. “He’ll be missed by his peers and his grandchildren and those of us who learned from him, because he was a great teacher.”
After retirement, Mr. Bitzer began writing a monthly investment newsletter for friends and family and even dabbled in the racehorse industry. His greatest success was a thoroughbred named Limehouse, who placed fourth in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.
Mr. Bitzer also spent as much time as possible with his family — including his 14 grandchildren — especially at his summer home in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., and his Caribbean winter escape in Pine Cay, in Turks and Caicos.
“Martha’s Vineyard was his happy place — it was his favorite place to be,” his son said.
His father’s intense devotion to family stemmed from an epiphany he had in middle age, the younger Mr. Bitzer said.
“I had two dads until he turned about 40 years old,” he said. “He was very hardcharging and a tough businessman, but he started to soften up and saw that it wasn’t the only important thing in life. He started paying more attention to his relationship with his family. His philosophy was that, when it all boils down, it’s family that really matters.”
Along with his wife and son, Mr. Bitzer is survived by his other son, Charlie, of Oakmont; his stepsons, Jason and Josh Needleman, both of Dallas; his sisters, Katrina Woodhouse, of Granby, Conn., and Polly LaBrie, of Jamestown, R.I.; his stepsister Gail Allen, of Lakeview, Ore.; his 14 grandchildren; six step-grandchildren and one great-grandson.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Memorial contributions are suggested to: Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, P.O. Box 1088, 57 David Ave., Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 or sheriffsmeadow.org.