OMAHA, Neb. – Dec. 24, 2004 – Jack Weekly, who rose from an entry-level data processing job to chairman and chief executive officer of Mutual of Omaha Insurance Co., one of the industry's giants, has died at the age of 73. Weekly died late Friday after being hospitalized following a fall Wednesday, company officials have announced.

At Mutual of Omaha, Weekly led efforts to launch major golf and swimming sponsorships and revived the popular "Wild Kingdom" television program. The company currently sponsors the "Mutual of Omaha Drive, Chip and Putt Junior Challenge," a nationwide series of golf skills events for youngsters aired on the Golf Channel, as well as Cristie Kerr on the LPGA Tour, Matt Gogel and Joe Ogilvie on the PGA Tour and Ryan Armour on the Nationwide Tour.

The company has been involved in golf since 1930, when it began sponsoring Johnny Goodman, one of its own agents. Goodman won the 1933 U.S. Open, and remains the last amateur to win the U.S. Open crown. He also won the 1937 U.S. Amateur.

Weekly joined Mutual of Omaha in 1950, working with punch cards, the precursor to modern computer data processing, and helped lead the computerization of the company during the 1950s and '60s. He was named president in 1987, chief executive officer in 1996 and chairman in 1998.

Source: The PGA