During one Southside Summer Festival in the early 2000s, Donna Niester remembers being stopped by local residents who had positive feedback on the event — unaware its benefactor sat beside her.
The festival was among the many acts of goodwill for the businessman, Jim Acheson. But on that occasion, Niester, now president and CEO of Acheson Ventures, said Acheson remained silent, listening, even though the compliment was his.
“He would not speak up. He wouldn’t acknowledge that he was right next to me and tell them, ‘You’re welcome,” she said Monday. “He would just smile, not looking for credit at all. So, to me, that truly speaks volumes.”
Acheson Ventures confirmed early Monday that Jim Acheson, the longtime philanthropist died Sunday. He was 86.
Following the sale of his family’s business, Acheson founded Acheson Ventures in the late 1990s and other charity programs, particularly through the Community Foundation of St. Clair County. He was also known for using his fortune to buy roughly 30 waterfront acres off of Fourth Street, where he had wider dreams to redevelop and improve the area.
Niester, who’s worked with Acheson since his foundations’ inception, said his friends and loved ones were “flooded” by memories of him this week.
“We would truly have to argue with Jim to put his name on something,” Niester said. “He just always wanted to do it quietly and sometimes he did it in somebody else’s name. He truly was a humble man.”
Randy Maiers, president and CEO of the Community Foundation, said something similar about Acheson, who, despite the range of support the multimillionaire could afford, kept himself out of the limelight.
More recently, he was often at his home in Florida, Maiers said, trusting his philanthropic activities to be overseen by Niester and a close set of advisors.
“He trusted his team completely to carry on his legacy,” Maiers said. “Jim was most comfortable just at his house or on his boat with friends.”
Acheson was ‘a visionary of what Port Huron could look like’
He was the grandson of inventor and Thomas Edison protégé, Dr. Edward Acheson, who founded Acheson Colloids Co. The company would become the massive and international Acheson Industries before the family company was sold in 1998.
Originally uninterested in the family business, Acheson went to the University of Michigan, leaving after three years and joining the U.S. Army. It wasn’t until later that he joined the company, manning the helm after his brother and father each died within months in 1975.
Acheson Ventures laid the groundwork for decades of philanthropic work. By the early 2000s, Acheson was already having a widely-recognized impact on the community despite his often-noted unassuming nature and casual approach in dress and demeanor.
In 2001, the multimillionaire philanthropist and businessman topped the list of a Times Herald survey, asking readers who “runs Port Huron.” At the time, he told the newspaper he and his family were well taken care of, only needing so much support financially and joking he was “just throwing money at things” he believed in.
Over time, Niester admitted that the list became difficult to measure.
“It is so immense that it’ll take a while to talk about that,” Niester said. “But the other piece is his vision, or specifically, Jim grew up on the southside of Port Huron, which is why it has been the focus of so much of what he’s donated. He’s done things to help the schools and (in) health care. He truly was a visionary of what Port Huron could look like.”
Acheson has supported the city of Port Huron and its parks and recreation and police departments, Port Huron’s largest hospital, the YMCA, St. Clair County Community College, SONS Outreach, and more.
“(Jim) Acheson was a champion for our city and our residents,” City Manager James Freed said in a message. “His deeply held belief in what our city could become instilled confidence and hope in others. So many community goals were achieved, so many lives (were) touched because of his philanthropy. … He was a good friend and a decent man, a true gentleman.”
Early on, in addition to the Southside Summer Festival, Acheson used his entities to pay for other community features and improvements, sponsoring a tall ship event at the Seaway Terminal and a host of other smaller projects with the Community Foundation, including a youth home for homeless teens and the establishment of Studio 1219, a former art gallery space that’s since been sold and operates as the Foundry.
Maiers said the most visible of his philanthropy might be the Blue Water River Walk, the mile-long stretch on the St. Clair River shoreline he gifted the Community Foundation in 2010.
“Jim’s dad actually helped create this foundation here in 1944. So, I know Jim was real proud to carry on the legacy that his dad and grandfather started. But it’s hard to overstate what the Acheson family has meant to Port Huron, in this region, and certainly, the Community Foundation,” Maiers said. “He loved Port Huron. He loved the southside. It’s not a coincidence that our offices are on the southside just down the street from Jim Acheson’s office.”
Funeral arrangements hadn’t been announced as of Monday afternoon.
Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.
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