Roddy Burdine

Roddy Bell Burdine (October 14, 1886 – February 15, 1936) was an American businessman who owned the Burdines department store chain from 1911 to 1936. A leading citizen of Miami in the early 20th century, Burdine was the son of William Burdine, who founded Burdines as a dry goods store in 1898.

After his father's death, Burdine became the chairman of the department store, leading its expansion to become one of the biggest department stores in the United States. He built Miami's first skyscraper and created the first parking garage connected to a retail business.

Early life Burdine was born in Verona, Mississippi, the third of seven children. He was the son of William Burdine, a Confederate veteran and merchant and Mary Freeman. At a young age, the Burdine family moved to Bartow, Florida where his father became a successful orange grower.

Career Miami was incorporated as a city in 1896. The Spanish–American War was raging, and many soldiers were training in the area when William Burdine founded a dry goods store to cater the needs of these soldiers two years later in 1898. Roddy worked at the store as a teenager, first as a clerk, and after graduating from Miami High School became a partner with his brother, Robert Freeman Burdine, a successful Miami attorney. After the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, Burdine was named the head of the rebuilding committee.

In 1933, Roddy Burdine Municipal Stadium opened in what would, many decades later, become the "Little Havana" section of Miami. In 1959, it was renamed the Orange Bowl.

Personal life

He married Zada Dutton (March 3, 1896 – October 15, 1969), of Statesboro, Georgia, on September 15, 1915 at her parents home. and Patricia (December 29, 1919 – July 13, 1986), and divorced in 1932. Roddy remarried on September 14, 1933 to Lillian Jenette Chatham (September 1, 1903 – May 17, 2006), a native of Windom, Minnesota, in New York City. They remained married until his death in 1936