Leon Gorman died Thursday, Sept. 3 at the age of 80. He was a grandson of L.L. Bean and led the company into the modern era after the founder died. Gorman passed away in his Yarmouth, Maine, home surrounded by family after battling cancer, according to the Associated Press.
Gorman transformed L.L. Bean from a catalog company with one retail store and just 100 employees into a huge retailer with more than 5,000 employees and sales that topped more than $1.5 billion in 2013. He was the president of the company for 34 years and held the title of chairman for 12.
He was also widely known for his generosity, philanthropic work and his involvement in numerous causes and civic organizations. He donated more than $6 million to the National Park Foundation, the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and other environmental groups and thousands of acres to state parks, according to the New York Times.
Gorman was born in Nashua, N.H., and was raised in Yarmouth. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1956 and got retail experience in a Filene's department store in Boston. After a stint in the Navy Reserve, he joined the family business. When his grandfather died in 1997, his father took over the business but died months later. After his father passed Gorman became president of L.L. Bean when he was 32.
In honor of Gorman's legacy the L.L. Bean flagship store in Freeport, Maine, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, will close its doors for four hours on the day of Gorman's funeral on Sept. 13. The store had only closed its doors two times before: after John F. Kennedy's assignation and after the death of Gorman's grandfather and founder of the company, according to the Portland Press Herald.
