Mel Simon dies at age 82

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Melvin Simon, Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Simon Property Group died Wednesday morning at age 82.

Melvin Simon was born and raised in New York, but he built his empire from Indiana. Simon first moved to the Hoosier state in 1954 while serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis.

Upon his discharge from the Army, Mr. Simon worked as a leasing representative with the Albert Frankel Company, an Indianapolis developer of community shopping centers.

His rise to mall dominance started with Southgate - a single, simple strip mall in Bloomington, Indiana.

Mel Simon's self-named company eventually grew into Simon Property Group. Simon and his brother, Herb, grew the company into a retail giant. The company said it has some 5,000 workers, 387 locations, and 263 million square feet of retail space.

Simon Property headquarters stand a block from one of the company's proudest achievements - the Circle Centre Mall in Downtown Indianapolis. The project required years of planning, demolition of some old downtown buildings and the gutting of others - so they could become a maze of mall space.

The project bogged down at times, leaving holes and hopes in the ground on several occasions. But persistence won out, and in 1995 the confetti flew, the ribbon was cut, and the shopping started.

"We're going to do big business...," Simon said at the time. "There are cities that think they can't do it. We're going to show 'em a new way of going. I think it's going to work great!"

A very different kind of shopping trip put Mel and Herb Simon in the city's sporting debt. In 1983, the brothers bought the proud but failing Pacers - keeping them in Indianapolis when the team and attendance were among the league's worst. In typical Simon style, team fortunes turned around.

Mel Simon and his wife wielded political might, too.

Bren Simon made a brief run for Lieutenant Governor in 2003, but behind-the-scenes support defined the Simons' political power.

Over the years, the couple backed Democrats sharply contrasting with the mostly conservative neighbors of their Carmel estate - Asherwood. There the pair hosted parties with some of the world's highest profile political players.

The most recent piece of Mel Simon's legacy could become his most lasting. The Simons gave so many millions to IU's cancer research efforts that the school named its new cancer center in their honor.

Mr. Simon is survived by his wife of 40 years, Bren; his children, Deborah Simon, Cynthia Simon Skjodt, David Simon and Tammy McCauley; his grandchildren, Eli, Rebecca, Hannah, Noah and Sam Simon; Erik, Samantha and Ian Skjodt; Tasha and Dylan McCauley; and his brothers, Fred and Herbert. He was preceded in death by son, Joshua Max Simon.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Joshua Max Simon Primary Care Center at St.Vincent Hospital, Indianapolis, Indiana. ( Click here to submit your own condolence to the Simon family )

Mr. Simon’s funeral will be held at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, 600 West 70th Street, at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 18. A private internment will follow. ( Mel Simon's obituary on Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary's Web site )