Matthew Bucksbaum, 1926-2013

Along with his brother, Matthew Bucksbaum helped pioneer the seismic shifts in American retail during the postwar suburbanization of America.

Starting with a small chain of three family-owned grocery stores in Marshalltown, Iowa, Mr. Bucksbaum and his brother, Martin, began developing shopping malls in the 1950s and eventually built what became the second-largest shopping mall operator in the U.S., Chicago-based General Growth Properties.

Although long based in Iowa, Mr. Bucksbaum moved to Chicago in 2000 and soon became involved in the civic community, serving on the board of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and, along with his wife, establishing the Bucksbaum Institute for Clinical Excellence at University of Chicago Medicine.

"He was just a marvelous human being," said Chicago industrialist Lester Crown, a fellow Lyric Opera of Chicago board member. "He was a true gentleman really in every sense of the word, but equally important, his brilliance was trumped only by his humility and the concern he had for the community and for his friends and his family."

Mr. Bucksbaum, 87, died of complications from Alzheimer's disease in his Streeterville neighborhood home on Sunday, Nov. 24, said his wife of 61 years, Kay.

Born and raised in Marshalltown, Mr. Bucksbaum was the first in his family to graduate from college, receiving a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Iowa in 1949.

In 1954, he and his brother borrowed $1.2 million to construct a shopping center in Cedar Rapids that was said to be the first in Iowa. The family's fourth grocery store would anchor the mall. From there, Mr. Bucksbaum and his brother began developing and owning more malls.

"They knew that they were creating a new kind of shopping experience that was right for the time," said Mr. Bucksbaum's son, John, who later served as General Growth's chairman and CEO. "As suburbia was starting to be created, and freeway systems and the automobile becoming more and more important, they wanted to have retail closer to where they lived."

By 1964, the brothers had five malls in a company called General Management. The Younkers department store anchored those malls, and in 1964, at the request of Younkers' chairman, the Bucksbaums moved their operations to Des Moines.

The company went public as General Growth Properties in 1970, then went back to private ownership by 1985. It went public again in 1993. After buying Homart, Sears' shopping center unit, General Growth Properties moved its headquarters to Chicago.

Mr. Bucksbaum was for many years the company's president and chief operating officer, while his brother had the titles of chairman and CEO. However, the two always ran the company in partnership with each other, making the titles superfluous, John Bucksbaum said.

Even so, Mr. Bucksbaum was known more for his expertise in development and operations, while his brother was more hands-on when it came to the financial aspects of the business. When Martin Bucksbaum died of a heart attack in 1995, Mr. Bucksbaum became CEO and chairman.

Mr. Bucksbaum stepped down as General Growth's CEO in 1999 but remained chairman until 2007. By the time he had resigned as chairman, General Growth had gone on an acquisition spree that expanded the company's interest to more than 200 shopping centers, including Water Tower Place in Chicago, Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook and Northbrook Court in Northbrook.

That binge, which was financed by about $27 billion in debt, proved to be the company's undoing during the financial crisis, and General Growth filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Today, the Bucksbaum family has no ties to General Growth.

Outside of work, Mr. Bucksbaum was a noted patron of the arts and medicine in Chicago and in Aspen, Colo., where he became a part-time resident in the early 1970s. He provided significant funding for the Aspen Music Festival, serving as a trustee and later as chairman for two terms.

Mr. Bucksbaum also served as a trustee of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and along with his son, provided a $2 million grant in 2006 so the Lyric Opera could resume its radio broadcasts.

In 2011, Mr. Bucksbaum and his wife announced a $42 million gift to the University of Chicago Medicine to create a teaching institute designed to improve communication between doctors and their patients.

Named after the couple's family foundation, the institute's aim has been to support the career development and activities of doctors, from medical students to senior physicians.

Mr. Bucksbaum also is survived by a daughter, Ann Friedman; four grandchildren; and a brother, Maurice.

Services were held in Des Moines, and a memorial service is being planned for Chicago.

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