Benedict I. Lubell
Benedict I. Lubell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1909 Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Died | 1996-12-13 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, philanthropist |
| Known for | Oil industry businessman, founding trustee of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center |
Benedict I. Lubell (1909 – December 13, 1996) was a prominent American businessman in the oil industry and a dedicated philanthropist.
Biography
Lubell was raised in a Jewish household on Manhattan's Upper West Side. His father, Samuel L. Lubell, was the founder of Bell Oil and Gas Company, an independent oil refining firm located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as Lubell Brothers, a shirt manufacturing company based in New York. He had two sisters: art dealer Grace Borgenicht Brandt and Shirley Black Kash. Lubell completed his education at Columbia College, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and later earned a law degree from Columbia University Law School. Initially, he practiced law at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in New York City until 1936 before transitioning to the family enterprise in Tulsa. After Bell Oil was sold in 1965, he founded the Lubell Oil Company and managed it until his retirement in 1995.
Lubell played a key role as a founding trustee of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and served as president of the Tulsa Arts Council. He also chaired Tulsa's Municipal Arts Commission and held a directorship at the National Bank of Tulsa. In recognition of his contributions to the arts, he was honored with the Oklahoma Governor's Arts Award in 1982. A park in Tulsa, named Lubell Park, commemorates his legacy.
Personal life
In 1939, Lubell married Norma Rubenstein (who passed away in 1994), daughter of Jacob A. Rubenstein, a textile industry executive from New York. The couple had two children: Ann Lubell Margolis and John Lubell. Benedict I. Lubell passed away from emphysema at his residence in Milwaukee. His funeral services took place at Temple Israel in Tulsa.