Harry Wesley Bass, Jr.

Harry Wesley Bass, Jr., was born on January 6, 1927, in Oklahoma City. He spent his childhood in Dallas where he graduated from the day school later known as St. Mark’s Academy. His higher education took place at the University of Texas and at Southern Methodist University, the last being located in Dallas not far from where he made his home in recent decades.

During World War II he served in the Navy. After the war he represented the family oil interests in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, then came back to Dallas where he played a prominent part in oil exploration and served as president of H.W. Bass and Sons, Inc.

In the 1950s he took a great interest in Republican politics and in 1957 was Dallas County chairman for the Republican Party. His wife Doris recalled that he played a prominent part in advancing the interests of the Republican Party in a district that was primarily Democratic. Later he served as a state committeeman for the Republican Party representing the Dallas area.

Subsequently he became interested in computers, a relatively new field for amateurs, and computerized the party’s members in his region. Later he set up a computer base for his home church, the Highland Park United Methodist Church. In the early 1990s when the Internet and e-mail became popular, Harry was one of the first to make wide use of it, and in the area of numismatics he certainly was in the forefront of the new discipline. His skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm in this area were shared with the American Numismatic Society.

During the 1970s and 1980s he was involved in the management of the Vail ski resort in Colorado and the development of the nearby Beaver Creek ski resort. In 1978 he successfully did battle with 20th Century Fox for control of Vail Associates, Inc. Bass served as chairman of the board of Vail Associates and did much during the growth phases of the resort’s development, continuing his involvement through 1985. Recently, at a special ceremony, a public fountain in Vail was dedicated to his memory. The inscription reads:

"The visionary who led Vail Associates in the early planning and development of Beaver Creek. Perhaps more than any other individual, he saw the possibilities for the resort and made the extensive financial commitments necessary to launch Beaver Creek. This fountain is dedicated in his honor."

Among his local affiliations he was a member of the Dallas Country Club, the Book Hollow Golf Club, the Idle Wild and Calyx Groups, and in the 1950s was first president of the Dallas Ski Club, which he helped to form. He also served as president of the Sertoma Club in Dallas, a well-known service organization.

From 1978 through 1984 Harry Bass served as president of the American Numismatic Society, and before and after that date he was a councilor of the Society. Today, the Harry W. Bass, Jr. Research Foundation works closely with the American Numismatic Society in the maintenance of its website.

Harry Bass was born to Wilma Schuessler and Harry Wesley Bass. At the time of his death, from complications of lung disease on April 4, 1998, he had been pre-deceased by both of his parents and his eldest son, Harry Wesley Bass III. He was survived by his wife Doris and four grown children: John Harold Bass, Carol Ann Bass, Robert Stephen Bass, and Beverly Bass Haralson, along with seven grandchildren, his brother Richard D. Bass of Dallas, and his stepsons Michael Calhoun and David Calhoun.