Harry Wayne Huizenga, who was the former owner of the Miami Dolphins, Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers as well as the founder of three Fortune 500 companies, passed away at the age of 80 on late Thursday night at his Fort Lauderdale home.
According to an obituary written on Friday by Mike Clary, Marcia Heroux Pounds, and Craig Davis of The Sun-Sentinel, Huizenga died after a lengthy battle with cancer.
“He succumbed to a decades-long battle with cancer. He was treated for cancer for years,” said Bob Henninger, executive vice president for Huizenga Holdings. “He fought a great fight. He died quietly.”
Dolphins current owner Stephen Ross made a heartfelt statement on Friday about the passing of Huizenga, which was posted on the team's official website.
“Wayne Huizenga was a seminal figure in the cultural history of South Florida. He completely changed the landscape of the region’s sports scene with his purchase of the Dolphins coupled with his pursuit of expansion teams in both Major League Baseball and the National Hockey League. Sports fans throughout the region owe him a debt of thanks for his stewardship of the Dolphins and for his vision and initiative to positively impact our community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this difficult time,” Ross said.
The Marlins won the 1997 World Series in seven games over the Cleveland Indians and the Panthers reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1996, but Huizenga’s Dolphins never reached a Super Bowl while he owned the team.
“If I have one disappointment, the disappointment would be that we did not bring a championship home,” Huizenga said shortly after he sold the Dolphins to Ross. “It’s something we failed to do.”
Huizenga achieved his first success with the sanitation company Waste Management, which traced its origins to a garbage route he personally drove in 1962. He also helped expand Blockbuster Video and AutoNation into highly-successful companies when he was at the helm.
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