John Marriott

John Willard Marriott (September 17, 1900 – August 13, 1985) was an American entrepreneur and businessman. He was the founder of the Marriott Corporation (which became Marriott International in 1993), the parent company of one of the world's largest hospitality, hotel chains, and food services companies. The Marriott company rose from a small root beer stand in Washington D.C. in 1927 to a chain of family restaurants by 1932, to its first motel in 1957. By the time he died, the Marriott company operated 1,400 restaurants and 143 hotels and resorts worldwide, including two theme parks, earned USD $4.5 billion in revenue annually with 154,600 employees. The company's interests even extended to a line of cruise ships and theme parks.

Early life
Marriott was born at Marriott Settlement near Ogden, Utah, and was raised on his father's farm. His father gave him considerable responsibility at an early age: he was sent to San Francisco on his own with 3,000 sheep in railcars at the age of 14.

At the age of 19 and as a devout Mormon, he undertook the traditional missionary work of the church for two years, being assigned to New England. On his way home after completing his mission, he passed through Washington D.C. during the sweltering summer months of 1921. While there:

:"... [H]e walked from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument, toiled up the steps to the top, walked back down again, and strolled over to the Lincoln Memorial. Everywhere he went tourists and pedestrians sweltered and sweated in the sultry, humid air. On the way back to his hotel, he just stood there in the street watching the crowds, he couldn't get over it: a push cart peddler would come along the street selling lemonade and soda pop and ice cream, and in minutes he would be cleaned out and on his way to stock up with another cartload".
Marriott was a brother of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at the University of Utah and of Alpha Kappa Psi. After graduating from Weber College in June 1923 and later, the University of Utah in June 1926, in Arlington, Virginia. The company became Marriott, Inc. in 1967. Two large chains were added to the group, the Big Boy family restaurants in 1967 and Roy Rogers Family Restaurants in 1968.

Source @ Wikipedia