{{Short description|American businessman (1930–2018)}} {{Infobox person | name = Bruce T. Halle | image = | alt = Portrait by Jeff Krausert | caption = | birth_name = Bruce Thomas Halle | birth_date = {{birth date|1930|05|27}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|1|4|1930|5|27}} | birth_place = [[Springfield, Massachusetts]], US | death_place = [[Paradise Valley, Arizona]], US | education = | alma_mater = [[Eastern Michigan University]] | occupation = | known_for = | spouse = Gerry (until 1989; her death) <br> Diane Meyers Halle (m. 1999–2018; his death) | children = 4<ref name="forbes"/> | website = }}

'''Bruce Thomas Halle'''<ref name="MTD"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wealthx.com/dossier/bruce-thomas-halle/|publisher=Wealth-X|title=Bruce Thomas Halle}}</ref> (May 27, 1930 – January 4, 2018) was an American businessman, and the founder and chairman of [[Discount Tire]].<ref name="forbes">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/bruce-halle/|title=Forbes profile: Bruce Halle|work=Forbes|access-date=5 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="eastern">{{cite web|url=http://www.emich.edu/library/about/halle.php|title=Halle Library – Eastern Michigan University|website=www.emich.edu|access-date=5 January 2018}}</ref> He was the wealthiest person in [[Arizona]], with an estimated net worth of $5.2 billion at the time of his death.<ref name="Forbes_20180104">{{cite news|last1=Au-Yeung|first1=Angel|title=Richest Person In Arizona Dies at Age 87|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/angelauyeung/2018/01/04/discount-tire-founder-billionaire-bruce-halle-dies-at-age-87/#77b54972d788|access-date=5 January 2018|work=Forbes|date=4 January 2018}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Bruce Halle was born on May 27, 1930, in [[Springfield, Massachusetts]]<ref name="forbes"/> as the second of seven children to Catholic parents, Frederick Joseph "Fred" Halle Sr. and his wife, Marry Elizabeth "Molly" McKelvey; both married in 1927.<ref name="MR">{{cite web|author=Rosenbaum, Michael|url=https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/six-tires-no-plan-michael-rosenbaum/1104136273|title=Six Tires, No Plan: The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader That (Almost) Nobody Knows|publisher=Barnes & Noble|access-date=6 February 2018}}</ref><ref name="MTD">{{cite web|url=https://www.moderntiredealer.com/tiredealeroftheyear/winner/2014/dealerprofile|title=MTD Tire Dealer of the Year profile|publisher=Modern Tire Dealer}}</ref><ref name="B">{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/profiles/bruce-t-halle/|title=Bruce Halle|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|publisher=Bloomberg}}</ref> His French-Canadian grandfather, Alfred Antoine Halle, had come to [[Berlin, New Hampshire]], from [[Quebec]] in the mid-1880s with his wife and two sons.<ref name="MR"/> As a young boy, during the Great Depression, he supported his family by delivering newspapers, cutting grass and digging graves.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/discount-tire-confirms-passing-of-founder-and-chairman-bruce-halle-300577990.html|title=Confirms Passing of Founder and Chairman, Bruce Halle|publisher=Cision PR Newswire|date=4 January 2018}}</ref> Bruce's parents returned home with their two sons to Berlin, where they would lived with Molly's parents at a home few blocks from St. Kieran's Catholic Church.<ref name="MR"/><ref name="BA">{{cite web|url=https://horatioalger.org/members/member-detail/?id=003j000000ibsbOAAQ|title=Bruce T. Halle|publisher= Horatio Alger}}</ref> His father became a firefighter at the Berlin Fire Department and later made deputy chief.<ref name="BA"/> In 1942, his family moved to Detroit, where Fred worked as a security guard at the [[Ford Motor Company]]'s [[River Rouge (Michigan)|Rouge River]] plant in Michigan.<ref name="BA"/> In 1950, Bruce went to enlist in the [[United States Marine Corps|US Marine Corps]] and served a tour of duty in the [[Korean War]].<ref name="B"/> He later settled in Michigan<ref name="TB"/> and graduated with a [[Bachelor of Business Administration|BBA]]<ref name="B"/> from [[Eastern Michigan University]] in 1956.<ref name="forbes"/><ref name="eastern"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/bruce-halle-reportedly-passed-away/|title=Bruce Halle, wealthiest man in Arizona, has passed away|publisher=Fox 10 Phoenix News|date=4 January 2018}}</ref>

==Career== After graduating from college, he took a series of jobs by selling cars and life insurance.<ref name="B"/> He tried unsuccessfully to form a partnership with his high school friend, Bill DiDonato, on an auto supply distribution company in [[Ypsilanti, Michigan]] and by late 1959, the business went bankrupt.<ref name="B"/><ref name="E">{{cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/discount-tire-company-inc|publisher=Encyclopedia.com|title=Discount Tire Company Inc.}}</ref>

In 1960, he borrowed $400<ref name="E"/> and opened a tire store in [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]].<ref name="forbes"/> In 1964, he opened his second store and by 1970, he had seven stores in Michigan and expanded to [[Arizona]] that same year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/billionaire-founder-of-discount-tire-dies/|title=Billionaire founder of Discount Tire dies|publisher=Las Vegas Review-Journal|author=Berry, Walter|date=4 January 2018}}</ref> It later became known as [[Discount Tire]], and grew to over 1000 stores in 28 states by 2018.<ref name="forbes"/>

As of 2014, he was the 248th richest person in the world, 87th richest in the US, and richest in Arizona, with an estimated wealth of US$6 billion.<ref name="list">{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/|title=Forbes 400 2017|website=Forbes|access-date=5 January 2018}}</ref>

==Philanthropy== Through the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation, he made charitable donations to the [[Diane Halle Center for Family Justice]] at [[Arizona State University]] and to the [[Children First Academy]], the nation's largest school for homeless children.<ref name="forbes"/> He made donations to the [[American Heart Association]], the [[American Cancer Society]], the [[American Liver Foundation]], the [[American Red Cross]], the [[National Multiple Sclerosis Society]], [[Childhelp]], the [[Juvenile Diabetes Foundation]], and the [[Muscular Dystrophy Association]].<ref name="eastern"/>

In Arizona, he supported the [[Boys & Girls Clubs of America|Arizona Boys and Girls Clubs]], the [[Arizona Opera League]], the [[Phoenix Symphony]], the [[Scottsdale Symphony]], the [[Crisis Nursery]], the [[Arizona Kidney Foundation]], and the [[Phoenix Children's Hospital]]. He was the first to pledge charter membership of the [[Children's Urban Survival Program]] in [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]].<ref name="eastern"/> The [[Bruce T. Halle Library]] on his alma mater's campus is named for him,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.emich.edu/library/about/halle.php|title=Who is Bruce T. Halle?}}</ref> and the Diane M. Halle Library on [[Endicott College]]'s campus is named after his second wife.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.endicott.edu/academics/academic-resources-support/halle-library|title=Halle Library at Endicott College}}</ref>

He had a collection of 400 [[lithograph]]s from the earliest days of tire advertisements.<ref name="forbes"/><ref>Edwin Lurgy, 'Bruce Halle On His Passion For Antique Tire Art', in ''Forbes'', Sep 22, 2011 [https://www.forbes.com/sites/edwindurgy/2011/09/22/bruce-halle-on-his-passion-for-antique-tire-art/]</ref> The Diane and Bruce Halle Collection is a private collection of 20th- and 21st-century art from Latin America based in [[Scottsdale, Arizona]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aifestival.org/speaker/beverly-adams|title=Beverly Adams |website=Aspen Ideas Festival|access-date=5 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120409124225/http://www.aifestival.org/speaker/beverly-adams|archive-date=9 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Political activities== In 2016 at the direction of Halle, Discount Tire stores in Maricopa County posted "Re-Elect Sheriff Joe Arpaio" signs in their windows.<ref>"Discount Tire faces boycott for [[Joe Arpaio]] signs". KPNX. Retrieved 2018-01-09.</ref>

Halle was also a supporter of the Tea Party movement throughout the Obama Presidency, including his financial support for the "Tea Party Patriots Citizen Fund" and "Tea Party Leadership Fund".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/bruce-halle.asp?cycle=14|title=Bruce Halle – $29,350 in Political Contributions for 2014|website=www.campaignmoney.com|access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref> He was a financial supporter of the National Association for Gun Rights,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/bruce-halle.asp?cycle=12|title=Bruce Halle – $62,350 in Political Contributions for 2012|website=www.campaignmoney.com|access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref> an organization self-described as "Accepting 'NO COMPROMISE' on the issue of gun control."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgunrights.org/about-nagr|publisher=National Association for Gun Rights|title=About NAGR}}</ref>

In 2016, he donated $1 million to Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy in an effort to stop [[cannabis]] legalization in Arizona.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stern|first1=Ray|title=Discount Tire Boycott Movement Grows as Owner Donates $1M to Keep Marijuana a Felony|url=http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/discount-tire-boycott-movement-grows-as-owner-donates-1m-to-keep-marijuana-a-felony-8746517|access-date=18 October 2016|work=Phoenix New Times|date=17 October 2016}}</ref>

==Personal life== Halle married his childhood sweetheart, Geraldine "Gerry" Konfara Halle,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/azcentral/obituary.aspx?n=bruce-t-halle&pid=187803133|title=Bruce T. Halle|publisher=Legacy}}</ref> in the late 1940s,<ref name="BA"/> and she died in 1989 from cancer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sixtiresnoplan.com/all-about-bruce/|title=A Brief Biography|publisher=Six Tires, No Plan}}</ref><ref name="Rosenbaum2012">{{cite book|author=Michael Rosenbaum|title=Six Tires, No Plan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=20M9hc5mGPIC&pg=PA115|access-date=7 January 2018|year= 2012|publisher=Greenleaf Book Group|isbn=9781608322589|page=115}}</ref> According to his biographer, Gerry's death was a "huge, huge blow" to him.<ref name="Rosenbaum2012" /> Bruce Halle's children were all born with his first wife Gerry. They had 3 children, Bruce Jr., Susan, and Lisa Pedersen.<ref name="AZ">{{cite web|url=http://www.azfamily.com/story/37194967/founder-of-discount-tire-bruce-t-halle-dies-at-age-87|title=Founder of Discount Tire, Bruce T. Halle, dies at age 87|publisher=azfamily.com|date=5 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Rosenbaum2012"/>

Halle married his second wife, Diane Meyers Halle (née Cummings),<ref name="T">{{cite web|url=http://tucson.com/news/bruce-halle-richest-person-in-arizona-dies/article_88bbdd1e-f1d5-11e7-a30a-cbd7bbbfadcb.html|title=Bruce Halle, richest person in Arizona, dies|publisher=Tucson com|date=5 January 2018}}</ref> ten years later in 1999. Diane was a widow of another Arizona millionaire. They lived in [[Paradise Valley, Arizona]].<ref name="forbes"/><ref>Dawson Fearnow, 'Valley's Richest Revealed', in ''[[Desert Living Today]]'', March 10, 2011 [http://www.desertlivingtoday.com/2011/03/10/valleys-richest-revealed/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514185417/http://www.desertlivingtoday.com/2011/03/10/valleys-richest-revealed/ |date=2011-05-14 }}</ref>

Halle died on January 4, 2018, at the age of 87.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/entrepreneurs/2018/01/04/bruce-halle-discount-tire-founder-obit-arizona-richest-man-dies-age-87/1004974001/|title=Bruce Halle, Discount Tire founder and Arizona's richest man, dies at 87|access-date=5 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="T"/><ref name="AZ"/><ref name="TB">{{cite web|url=http://www.tirebusiness.com/article/20180104/NEWS/180109975/discount-tire-founder-bruce-halle-dies-at-age-87|title=Discount Tire Founder Bruce Halle dies at age 87|publisher=Tire Business|date=5 January 2018}}</ref> He was survived by three children, his wife, a brother, and two sisters.<ref name=nyt-died>{{cite news |author=AP |author-link=Associated Press |date=January 5, 2018 |title=Bruce Halle, Founder of Discount Tire, Is Dead at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/05/obituaries/bruce-halle-founder-of-discount-tire-is-dead-at-87.html | work=[[The New York Times]] }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Arizona|Companies}} * [[TBC Corporation]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halle, Bruce}} [[Category:1930 births]] [[Category:2018 deaths]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts]] [[Category:People from Paradise Valley, Arizona]] [[Category:Military personnel from Massachusetts]] [[Category:Eastern Michigan University alumni]] [[Category:American billionaires]] [[Category:American company founders]] [[Category:American chairpersons of corporations]] [[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]] [[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]