Anthony J. Drexel Biddle IV

Anthony J. Drexel Biddle IV (""Tony""), 34, of Philadelphia, graduate of Episcopal Academy and Cornell University, influential business leader in the Philadelphia hospitality industry, published writer and frequent expert source for industry journals, and Eagle Scout, passed away December 30, 2019 of complications resulting from a bicycling accident. Surviving are: Karen (nee Erskine) and Anthony J. Drexel Biddle III, of Philadelphia, and Rock Hall, Maryland, sister Cordelia Erskine Drexel Biddle, and brother Nicholas Erskine Drexel Biddle, both of Philadelphia – all of whom he loved dearly. Tony is descended from Nicholas Biddle, president of the Second Bank of the United States, and Anthony J. Drexel, founder of Drexel University, and Drexel & Co., financier of the Civil War, the Panama Canal, startups of commercial giants such as GE, and progenitor of J.P.Morgan & Co. Tony's grandfather Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. was U.S. Ambassador to nine Governments-in-Exile at once during World War II, and to Spain in 1961; and his great, great aunt Katharine Drexel is the first American-born saint. Tony attended the George McCall and Julia R. Masterman secondary schools in Philadelphia, and graduated in 2003 from The Episcopal Academy. He learned football as a tackle for the South Philadelphia Seminoles, won national recognition for an essay on cold fusion, and threw himself into Scouting. He attained the high rank of Eagle Scout at the early age of 15, and trained all first-time summer campers at Musser Scout Reservation in the Poconos. He was developing life friendships, a dedication to service, and natural leadership skills which would become his hallmark. He matriculated at Cornell University's renowned School of Hotel Administration to follow his passion for that industry. Outside of class he did management internships with the Union League, Greywalls Hotel at the famed golf course in Muirfields, Scotland, and the Lodge at Pebble Beach; and, a born leader, was President of his fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi. Returning to Philadelphia after graduation in 2007, He joined the Philadelphia office of PKF Consulting, regarded as the leading research and consulting firm to the hospitality industry, and served on the Board of Directors of the Cornell Hotel Society of Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey. At PKF, he conducted market and economic feasibility studies and strategic positioning studies for new or existing hotels, resorts, and conference centers, gaining a reputation as an intensely dedicated professional. He developed a proprietary model for forecasting hotel demand in the oil and gas region of Pennsylvania – acclaimed as unique in industry journals. He travelled to US military bases here and overseas, charged with the re-design of all on-base human services facilities, rising in time to head that global function. Following a 2014 merger of PKF with commercial real estate giant CBRE, Tony was elevated to Northeast Regional Consulting Practice Leader – the youngest in the firm's history. He increased profitability, and personally produced ""SNAPSHOT"", an exhaustive quarterly review and forecast of Philadelphia's hospitality, tourism, and convention businesses – a planning ""bible"" to both industry and City Government. In early 2019, Tony launched his own practice, Biddle Hotel Consulting. He was a regular source for business journals, and was interviewed in a national broadcast of PBS/WHYY's ""Executive Leaders Radio"" program focused on childhood factors that shape business and community leaders. Concurrently he was asked by the internationally esteemed Urban Land Institute in Washington, DC, to contribute to the third edition of their authoritative industry reference and textbook, ""Real Estate Market Analysis – Trends, Methods, and Information Sources"", by authoring its chapter on ""Hotels and Lodging"" under his name and Biddle Hotel Consulting. It was published in August of 2019, only months before Tony's death, and will have a long shelf-life. This personal mark on his beloved industry gave him a great inward sense of fulfillment. Tony loved his country, its history, and he loved the City of Philadelphia, where he deeply felt his roots and his responsibility. Indeed, he aspired to the Mayorship ""someday"" and had a ready complement of bumper stickers always at hand. He was an expert sailor, marksman, outdoorsman, chef, and above all a fisherman. His ""nirvana"" was an annual week-long canoeing-camping-fishing excursion down the Delaware River, with a select group of friends from his old scout troop – organized in great detail and executed with much laughter,. Tony Biddle was deeply imbued with life principals he learned as a scout: leadership, service, fairness, steadfast loyalty to his life friends. His interest was in others, never in himself. He loved the English language – especially its complexities and nuances which it was his delight to weave deftly into an ever-present dry and subtle sense of humor. He laughed at himself, and induced others to do the same. And we were better for it. At a young age, he was a person of great character, who was himself, a great character. Unforgettable in the truest sense of that word. We all miss his sweet smile and gentle ways. His loss is an immense loss to all who knew him. Donations may be made to: Cornell Star & Crescent Foundation Attention: Tony Biddle '07 Memorial Fund P.O.Box 876 Ithaca, NY 14851 -or- Cradle of Liberty Council, Boy Scouts of America Attention: Tony Biddle Memorial 1485 Valley Forge Road Wayne, PA 19087 Private services were conducted by the family and friends.