A highly-regarded name in the Indiana business and philanthropic communities has died. Andre Lacy was board chair of LDI Ltd. LLC and a senior adviser to Butler University’s School of Business, which bears his name. Funeral arrangements will be detailed in the coming days. Lacy was 78.
Lacy had been chairman of the Indiana State Fair Commission since 2009, where he was considered a driving force in the $63 million renovation of the Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum, chairman of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors and past chairman of the Indiana State Chamber of Commerce. He served on many boards and civic organizations including: Indianapolis Public Schools, the Economic Club of Indianapolis, the United Way of Central Indiana, Indianapolis 500 Festival, Hulman & Co., Herff Jones, Patterson Companies Inc., Ethyl Corp., National Bank of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Power & Light Company and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. He was co-chair of the Cultural Trail fundraising committee and a co-creator of the state’s logistics and advanced manufacturing initiative, Conexus Indiana. Just last month, he was inducted into the Independent Colleges of Indiana’s Indiana Academy for lifetime achievement and contributions throughout the state. A month earlier, he was recognized as a 2017 Indiana Philanthropy Awards recipient.
Governor Holcomb said in a statement: “Andre Lacy was a business and philanthropic heavyweight with a giant heart for public service. Throughout his life, he gave away his time, talents and wealth to improve Indiana—with a deep focus on building civic engagement. His longtime service as chairman of the Indiana State Fair Commission has been essential to the ongoing success of this state resource. In fact, it is only through his generosity and leadership that Indiana was able to renovate and unveil the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in 2014. Andre’s legacy will live on through this landmark and the many lives he has positively impacted. His passing is a great loss, and Janet and I extend our sincere condolences to the Lacy family.”
Lacy’s career after graduating from Denison University in Ohio began with U.S. Corrugated Fibre-Box, the founding enterprise of LDI. After U.S. Corrugated was sold, he became executive vice president and chief operations officer of Lacy Diversified Industries, the holdings company that became LDI. In 1983, he was named LDI chief executive officer and was elected board chair in 1991, a title he held even after his retirement in 2006.
Lacy died Thursday morning in a motorcycle crash in Botswana. Three governors — Roger Branigan, Robert Orr and Mitch Daniels — gave Lacy a Sagamore of the Wabash.
Source: Inside Indiana Business