William Larimer Mellon, Jr.

William Larimer Mellon (also called Larry Mellon, 1910-1989) was an American philanthropist and physician. He was born June 26, 1910, the son of financier William Larimer Mellon, Sr. and a grandnephew of Andrew W. Mellon. He was married twice, the second time to Gwen Grant. He owned and operated a cattle ranch in Arizona until, at the age of 37, he read about, and then studied, Albert Schweitzer's medical missionary work in Gabon, and resolved wi... more

William Larimer Mellon (also called Larry Mellon, 1910-1989) was an American philanthropist and physician. He was born June 26, 1910, the son of financier William Larimer Mellon, Sr. and a grandnephew of Andrew W. Mellon. He was married twice, the second time to Gwen Grant. He owned and operated a cattle ranch in Arizona until, at the age of 37, he read about, and then studied, Albert Schweitzer's medical missionary work in Gabon, and resolved with Schweitzer's encouragement and guidance to create a similar third-world hospital. He and Gwen Grant Mellon enrolled at Tulane University; he received his medical degree in 1954 at the age of 44, and she became qualified as a medical-laboratory technician. In 1956, they opened the Hopital Albert Schweitzer Haiti in Deschapelles, Haiti. He died in Deschapelles at the age of 79 with cancer and Parkinson's disease, on August 3, 1989. less