Dan Rice History (Life and Business)
Dan Rice (1896–1975) exemplified the 20th-century self-made American businessman, while also cultivating passions that ranged from sports to philanthropy. Born in Chicago on March 3, 1896, young Dan grew up in the city and attended local schools. He pursued higher education briefly at DePaul University and Notre Dame, but around 1917 he left academia, likely due to World War 1, and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Dan trained as an officer but never saw overseas combat; when the war ended in November 1918, he returned home to Chicago to start his career.
Business Career
Back in Chicago, Dan wasted no time. He took an entry-level job as a messenger (runner) on the Chicago Board of Trade, the city’s commodities exchange. Immersed in the hustle of grain trading, Dan learned the ropes quickly. By 1920, at just 24, he became a full member of the Board of Trade. He gained a reputation as a bold grain speculator – one account calls him “one of the biggest and most daring” traders in the wheat, corn, rye and soybean pits. Dan’s sharp instincts and appetite for risk paid off: in 1919, he founded Daniel F. Rice & Company, his own brokerage firm dealing in both commodities and securities. Over 35 years, Dan and his brother Joseph built the firm into a sizeable enterprise with multiple branch offices (New York, Florida, the Midwest) and around 200 employees. In 1960, Dan merged his firm into Hayden, Stone & Co., a larger investment house, at which point he and his brother stepped back from brokerage management.
Concurrently, Dan launched or invested in related businesses. He co-owned the Rice-Powell grain elevator in Chicago, enhancing his presence in the physical grain trade. He formed the Rice Grain Corporation (headquartered at 141 W. Jackson Blvd, in the Board of Trade building) and served as its President and Chairman. By the late 1930s, he had also gained a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, reflecting his diversification into stocks. Dan’s business interests extended beyond trading: after WWII, he became part-owner of the Los Angeles Dons, a professional football team in the All-America Football Conference. He also held shares in the Chicago Cubs baseball team for a time, and invested in ventures in transportation, communications, and mining. This broad portfolio made Dan a wealthy man by mid-century and allowed Dan and Ada to live a life of luxury and influence.
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However, Dan’s career wasn’t without hiccups. In 1944, the U.S. government charged Dan and his firm with attempting to manipulate the price of rye on the Board of Trade, a serious violation in the commodities market. Dan settled the case by accepting a six-month suspension from trading in 1945. It was a noteworthy scandal, but ultimately a footnote in his long career – after serving the suspension, Dan returned to business and continued prospering. In later interviews, he was characteristically unapologetic about taking big swings in the market, which he saw as part of the game.
Personal Life and Character
Friends and associates often described Dan Rice as bold, sociable, and full of enthusiasm. He was a member of the Chicago Athletic Association and the exclusive Chicago Golf Club, where he played regularly (often with his close friend Judge Win Knoch of Naperville). An anecdote from Judge Knoch: Dan convinced him not to quit golf in the 1950s, exemplifying Dan’s upbeat, persuasive nature – “He never raced a horse he didn’t breed,” Knoch recalled, noting Dan’s patient, long-term approach in both sports and business. Dan was also a skeet shooting enthusiast and held fox hunts on the Danada grounds in the pre-war years, complete with imported hounds. His multifaceted sporting interests earned him social connections far and wide (from Hollywood celebrities to Kentucky horsemen).
Dan and Ada maintained three main residences: the Wheaton Danada farm (their primary home), a Lexington, KY estate (for the breeding farm), and a winter home in Florida on Indian Creek Island in Miami Beach. Additionally, as noted, they rented the Palmer House penthouse in Chicago for in-city stays. Their Florida home was situated on one of America’s most exclusive enclaves – Indian Creek Island, known as the “Billionaire’s bunker” of Miami. After Dan’s death, Ada sold the Miami mansion to Latin pop star Julio Iglesias in the 1980s; Iglesias eventually demolished it in 2008 to build a new estate. Such is the transient nature of wealth and property – but the fact that Iglesias paid over $15 million and combined it with the lot next door speaks to the value of what the Rices created.
Later Years and Death
By the 1970s, Dan Rice began winding down his activities. He sold off his large holdings in Arlington Park and Washington Park racetracks by 1962 (having been the biggest shareholder in both at one time). He remained on the board of Hialeah Park in Florida up to his death, as horse racing was a lifelong passion. In winter months, Dan loved staying in Miami, enjoying the warm climate. It was there that he suffered a heart attack and died on February 6, 1975, at the Miami Heart Institute, aged 78. Out of respect, Hialeah Park flew its centerfield flag at half-staff the day he died. Dan’s funeral brought out both Illinois friends and Kentucky horsemen, a testament to his broad impact. He was interred in the Chicago area. Ada survived him by two years; as mentioned, she passed away in 1977. With no children except their adopted son (Dan Jr., who sadly died in 1990), the Rice legacy could easily have dissipated – yet, thanks to their foundation and the preservation of Danada, it continues to loom large.
In sum, Dan Rice’s life story is one of ambition and achievement: from a runner on the trading floor to the owner of a private country estate; from a kid who loved sports to the breeder of a Derby champion. He was a product of his era – hard-working, opportunistic, and generous when fortune smiled upon him. Dan Rice’s name lives on in numerous civic landmarks and, of course, in “Danada”, the enduring fusion of Dan and Ada that graces everything from a forest preserve to a shopping mall in Wheaton. His philosophy in racing, as Judge Knoch quipped, was to only race horses he bred himself, reflecting a pride in cultivation and patience. That philosophy could well apply to his life: Dan believed in making one’s own luck, whether in markets or horse breeding, and that belief paid rich dividends.
