Mel Foster Jr.

Real Estate executive, civic leader, philanthropist, soldier, and patriot, Mel Foster, Jr., 78, died Wednesday afternoon in Naples, Florida.
Arrangements are being handled at Weerts Funeral Home. There will be no visitation. Funeral services will be Tuesday, May 9, at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 12th and Main Sts., in Davenport. Private internment will be in Oakdale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to a favorite charity.
Mr. Foster followed a career in his father's pioneering real estate business and grew the Mel Foster Co., Inc. to be the largest independently owned real estate company in the State of Iowa and one of the top 100 firms in the United States.
He was born October 4, 1927, to Mel Foster, Sr. (1899-1970) and Edna Barr Foster (1901-2000) in Davenport, Iowa.
Mr. Foster graduated from Davenport High School (1945) and the University of Iowa (1949) with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He spent three and half years on active duty with the U.S. Army. On August 28, 1951, he graduated first in his class at Officers Candidate School, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was offered a commission in the United States Army.
A few days later, on September 1, 1951, Mr. Foster married Charlotte Capen, whose family owned and operated Dewey Portland Cement Company. They had five children: Gaynell Barr Foster, Sibyl Capen Foster, Melvon Lamphere Foster III, Tyler Capen Foster, and Reed Capen Foster.
Upon completion of military service in 1953, Mr. Foster returned to Iowa and rejoined the family business as Treasurer, then Secretary, and in 1965 was named Executive Vice President. He assumed the office of Chairman and President in 1970 upon the death of his father. He relinquished the office of President in 1991 but remained Chairman of the Board until his death.
His professional activities were many. Mr. Foster was a member of The Greater Davenport Board of Realtors and was its President in 1962, as well as being named Realtor of the Year in 1973. In the 1970s, he was a member of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors, serving as its District Vice President and on its Board of Directors. The Quad City Society of Residential Appraisers counted him as a member and Past President. He was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity, and Omega Tau Rho, an honorary fraternity of the National Association of Realtors.
As a civic leader, Mr. Foster was instrumental in shaping and building the Quad Cities. He was a director of Quad City Development Group from 1971-1993 and a trustee of Davenport Industrial Development Co. from 1970-1987, working to educate company executives about the Quad-Cities and to encourage them to locate here. He was elected President of the Davenport Chamber of Commerce in 1970 and served in a number of Chamber leadership roles. He was a trustee of St. Katherine's-St. Mark's School (now known as Rivermont Collegiate) from 1961-1979 and a trustee of the Putnam Museum from 1964-1984. He was president of the Davenport Exchange Club and a National Associate of Boys' Clubs of America and was a director of Scott Community College. He was a "Life Member" of Ducks Unlimited.
As a significant leader in Republican Party politics, he served two terms as Iowa's Young Republican National Committeeman. Closer to home, he served on a number of governmental committees and in organizations with missions to improve the quality of life in the area, including the Davenport Plan and Zone Commission, the Davenport Levee Improvement Commission, the Downtown Davenport Association and the Downtown Davenport Development Corp. From 1984-1998, Mr. Foster was a member of Future Davenport Group.
He was well known for his service on the Board of Directors of the Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric Company from 1972-1995, where he rose to become Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. He made the transition to MidAmerican Energy Company with its new corporate structure and continued his leadership from 1995-1998 on its Board of Directors, as Chair of the Nominating Committee and as a member of the Compensation Committee. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Davenport Bank & Trust Company from 1972-1992, and continued to serve after its acquisition by Wells Fargo Bank on the Community Board of Directors.
Mr. Foster was credited with a number of remarkable achievements during his career, including the land acquisition for the John Deere Davenport Works, his work in riverfront and downtown development, the building of the Radisson Quad-City Plaza Hotel, the MidAmerican Energy Building and the renovation of First Trust & Savings Bank building. In 1997, he was inducted into the Quad Cities Area Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame.
Through the Mr. & Mrs. Mel Foster, Jr. Charitable Fund and Mel Foster Co. Inc., the family has made numerous contributions to charitable organizations and projects in the Quad-City Community, including United Way, Junior Achievement, Rivermont Collegiate, Bettendorf High School Fitness Center, Putnam Museum, Figge Art Museum, The City of Davenport, for Credit Island Overlook and Wetland, Habitat for Humanity, Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, The Mayo Foundation, and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral.
His hobbies included a love for boating, golf, hunting and fishing. Locally, Mr. Foster was a member of Crow Valley Golf Club, Rock Island Golf Club, a founding director of the Tournament Players Club at Deere Run, The Outing Club, Lindsay Park Yacht Club and the Rod & Gun Club. In Chicago, he was a member of Bob O'Link Golf Club, as well as Swan Lake Club in Henry, Illinois. In Florida, Wilderness Country Club, Quail Creek Country Club, the Hole In The Wall Golf Club and the Power Boat Squadron carried his name on their rosters in Naples, Florida. He also enjoyed his membership in the International Seniors and Southern Seniors Golf Associations.
During his lifetime, Mr. Foster put in place an experienced business team consisting of Robert Fick, Mel Foster III, Pryce Boeye, Mark Fensterbusch and Bonnie Sparks that has directed Mel Foster Co. Inc. for more than a decade. It was his desire that this management group continue the legacy of his family in the shaping of this community.
Surviving him are his wife, Charlotte; daughters, Gay Foster and Sibyl and her husband, William Zegers; and sons, Mel Foster III and his wife Brenda, and Tyler Foster. He is also survived by four grandchildren: Connor Capen Zegers, Riley Foster Zegers, Charlotte Elena Foster Pray, Daniel Foster Pray, and his sister, Sandra Foster Miller.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and one son, Reed.