Norman B. Champ Jr. Was Political Activist

Norman B. Champ Jr., 76, of Ladue, Mo. and Chappaquiddick, a businessman, arts patron and longtime Democratic political activist died of complications from pneumonia in St. Louis on Dec. 27.

Mr. Champ, along with his sons, owned several businesses in the St. Louis area including Champ Spring Company and the Hawthorne apartment building in the city of St. Louis and Champ Goodwood Farms, a dairy farm in Elsberry, Mo. However, it was his involvement in Democratic politics and the arts that made him a prominent local figure. Mr. Champ became active in Democratic politics when his friend and St. Louis Country Day classmate, Thomas F. Eagleton, ran for prosecutor.

In 1975, Mr. Champ hosted a fundraiser at his home in Ladue for a then unknown presidential candidate from Georgia named Jimmy Carter. Mr. Champ became the state finance chief for the Carter presidential campaign in Missouri. In 1977 President Carter appointed Mr. Champ to be a member of the National Council on the Arts which administers the National Endowment for the Arts. At the time he left the council in 1985, he was the longest serving member in its history. At the council, Mr. Champ worked with figures from the arts world including Theodore Bickel, Toni Morrison and Van Cliburn to administer the endowment's funding of museums, dance companies and other arts projects. President Carter also appointed Mr. Champ to serve on the Committee for the Preservation of the White House which administers the arts and furniture decoration of the White House.

Mr. Champ held a number of political positions in St. Louis. He was the Democratic committeeman for Clayton township for twenty years and a former member of the St. Louis county board of jail visitors. In the 1970s he ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the state house. Mr. Champ received the "Good Guy" award from Women in Democratic Politics, a local organization.

Mr. Champ was very active in the arts world, serving as one of the founding directors of Laumier Sculpture Park and was formerly a commissioner of the St. Louis Art Museum. At the time of his death, Mr. Champ was a member of the Missouri Arts Council. Mr. Champ was a former board member of Webster College. Mr. Champ also served on the board of directors of Pilobolus, a nationally known modern dance company.

In the St. Louis business world, Mr. Champ was a former executive of St. Louis Car Company, the company that build the red subway cars for the New York city subway and the tram cars that take visitors to the top of the St. Louis gateway arch. After the death of his father, Norman B. Champ Sr., Mr. Champ and his brother, Joseph Champ, took over the running of the family businesses. His brother, Joe, predeceased him in 1992. Mr. Champ was a director of Mark Twain Bank and Firstar Bank which later became US Bank. Mr. Champ was a longtime member of Rotary Club of South County and a former member of the board of directors and president of the South City YMCA.

Mr. Champ was born in 1928 on the original Champ Farm that stood at the site that is currently Lambert St. Louis airport. Mr. Champ and his brother worked on the family farm as they grew up, including during World War II when German prisoners of war were brought to the farm to work the fields, according to his son. After graduating from the St. Louis Country Day School, Mr. Champ attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving his engineering degree with honors. Mr. Champ then attended the Harvard Business School, receiving his business degree in 1952. After graduating from business school, Mr. Champ served in the United States Air Force as a second lieutenant. After leaving the Air Force, Mr. Champ worked for Midwest Piping Company in St. Louis and the Crane Corporation in New York city.

Mr. Champ was a member of the St. Louis Racquet Club and played bridge there every Monday night for over thirty years, including the week before his death. His favorite bridge story involved a game in Martha's Vineyard when he won four dollars from Katherine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, who had to borrow the money from her butler. Mr. Champ was also a member of the University Club, the Veiled Prophet Association, the Edgartown Yacht Club since 1971 and the Chappaquiddick Beach Club since 1969. Mr. Champ was an active member of the Chappaquiddick Island Association and the Martha's Vineyard branch of the Rotary Club.

Mr. Champ is survived by his wife Judith (Judy) Smith Champ who is also very active in the St. Louis arts community, his four children including daughter Dr. Deborah A. Champ of Ft. Dodge, Iowa, son Norman B. Champ 3rd of New York city, stepdaughter Julie Zander Zoller of Wilmette, Ill. and stepson William (Bill) Zander of Seattle, Wash. and six grandchildren. His first marriage to Anne V. Champ of Chesterfield, Mo. ended in divorce.

In lieu of flowers, Mr. Champ's family requests that donations in his memory be made to the Children's Sculpture Garden at Laumaier Sculpture Park, 12580 Rott Road, Sunset Hills, Missouri 63127 or South City YMCA, 3150 Sublette, St. Louis, MO 63139.

A private memorial service will be held in his honor in August at his home on Chappaquiddick.