Monroe Carell, Jr. Dead at 76

I received notification this morning that  Central’s Monroe J. Carell Jr., passed away
early this morning. Following is the obituary sent out by the Carell family:

Monroe J. Carell, Jr.,  the Nashville businessman and philanthropist
who built the largest parking company in the world, died early this morning at
the age of 76. The cause of death was cancer.

A Nashville native, Carell assumed control of Central
Parking Corporation (CPC) from his father in the late 1960s, and built it from
10 lots to more than 4,000 facilities around the world. Central Parking parked
an average of 2 million automobiles a day in facilities spread across the
United States, Europe, South America and Asia.

Carell sold the company, which was listed on the New York
Stock Exchange, in May 2007 in a deal worth approximately $725 million to the
shareholders. Since retiring from Central Parking last year, Carell operated
Carell LLC, a family real estate investment company.

Within development circles, Carell was known as an
authority in the operation and design of mixed-use projects that included
office and retail establishments. He was associated in the functional design
phase of projects including Canary Wharf in London, Crown Center in Kansas
City, Mo., Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and the Gallery at Harbor
Place in Baltimore, Md.

“I can’t imagine having the opportunity to work with
someone more focused, more intent on being the best at what he did than
Monroe,” said James H. Bond, president of International Operations at Central
Parking.

Bond joined Central Parking in 1971, when the company was
managing facilities in three cities. He said Central Parking became pre-eminent
in managing mixed-use properties because of Carell’s attention to detail and
his commitment to hiring the best people and providing them with incentives to
succeed.

“We were able to attract very bright college graduates
when the business hadn’t seen a lot of that before,” Bond said. “His vision was
to prepare people for the next level, not just the job they held at the time.” Bond
said two deals stand out in his time with Carell and Central Parking. The first
was Crown Center in Kansas City, where the company had initially actually lost
the bid.

“The (winning company) failed to show up for a couple of
early meetings, and we got a call to come down and do the work,” Bond said.
“We’re still there today, 37 years later.”

The second deal was in 1992, when development of new
properties had slowed. Central Parking signed a lease deal with Meyers Parking,
located in New York and with 90 properties throughout the Northeast and on the
West Coast.

“That (deal) gave us great credibility,” said Bond.
“Every time he needed to make the right decision, he made the right decision.”

Despite a business empire that spanned the globe, Carell
was active in civic and philanthropic circles in Nashville. He was probably
best known for his fundraising efforts and support on behalf of scholarships at
Vanderbilt University and the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at
Vanderbilt, which opened in 2004.

Nashville businessman and friend Ed Nelson said Carell
was indefatigable on the projects that mattered to him, particularly projects
involving young people.

“He built a role (in Nashville) because he volunteered
for things he was interested in,” Nelson said. “He was international in his
thinking, and whatever he was doing, he became a leader in it.”

Carell graduated from Father Ryan High School. After
serving four years in the U.S. Navy, he returned to Nashville.

“He was proud of his Navy life, learning discipline and
learning about technology,” Nelson said.

The lessons about discipline were beneficial for the
young Carell, who had enrolled in the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt. Carell graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt in 1959 with a
B.S. in electrical engineering. He retained a strong link to the university. He
served as a member of the Board of Trust for Vanderbilt from 1991 until his
death. He chaired the university-wide “Shape the Future” campaign, which raised
more than $1.25 billion two years ahead of schedule. The campaign was so
successful the goal was raised to $1.75 billion. Carell was particularly passionate about
scholarships, and he and his wife established the Carell Scholarship Fund at
Vanderbilt.

Carell frequently visited the Children’s Hospital that
bears his name. He could often be found
in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit, talking to staff and families
and rocking infants in one of the unit’s rocking chairs.
“He had a deep passion for children,” Nelson said.
“Children’s Hospital was a great joy for him.”

Carell also had a long affiliation with the Motherhouse
of the Dominican Sisters of the St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville. He was a
communicant of the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

He loved about us what was most important to us: our
love of God,” said Sister Mary Angela, novice mistress. “He saw us as women
whose lives totally belonged to Christ and who were dedicated to helping young
people. It’s hard to imagine that someone (outside the convent) has become so
much a part of our lives.”

 Carell and his wife were instrumental in raising funds
that improved safety and expanded facilities at the 148-year-old convent,
including building a new chapel. The facility consisted primarily of the
original building and another built at the turn of the century. A girls
boarding school was moved to another location in 1957, giving over the entire
property to the convent.

 Sister Mary Angela said Carell was very concerned about
the safety of the buildings when he was first approached for advice in
2001. After touring the facility, he and
his wife agreed to lead the fundraising effort. After meeting the sisters, his
interest in the convent deepened, Sister Mary Angela said.

 “He loved all of the sisters, and especially the young
sisters in the novitiate,” Sister Mary Angela said. “We would tell them he
wanted to be their grandfather, and every year he and Ann would have a picnic
for the novitiate sisters when the new postulants arrived.”

 After learning of his illness last year, Carell became an
almost daily visitor to the convent chapel.

 “We didn’t see the business side of him,” she said.
“We’ve definitely seen the human and faith side of him, the devotion to his
family and his great love of the young.”

 Carell was preceded in death by his parents, Monroe
Joseph Carell Sr., and Edith Haswell Carell. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Ann Scott Carell; three
daughters, all of Nashville, Julia Carell Stadler (George), Edith Carell
Johnson (David), and Kathryn Carell Brown (David); and six grandchildren, Julia
Claire Stadler, George Monroe Stadler, Carell Elizabeth Brown, David Nicholas
Brown, William Carell Johnson and Ann Scott Johnson. He is also survived by his brother, James W.
Carell (Jan). 

 The Carell family was close-knit, with all three
daughters living within a five-minute drive of the family home. The commitment
to family and to young people drove much of Carell’s other philanthropic
endeavors, including the Pope John Paul II Hngh School in umner County, and the Ensworth High School and the Ann
Scott Carell Library at the Harpeth Hall School, both in Nashville.

 Carell and his wife also established scholarship at
Vanderbilt and Aquinas College in Nashville, Stephens College in Columbia, Mo.,
City University of New York and others.

 His civic involvement included the Board of Trust at
Vanderbilt University, the Vanderbilt Medical Center Board, the Board of
Overseers for the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the board of directors of
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Board of Governors for the
Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Downtown Partnership and Tennessee
Performing Arts Center. He also served as an honorary lifetime member of the
Board of Directors of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.
He was a member of the Belle Meade Country Club and University Club.

 His activities and awards outside Tennessee included the
2006 Man of the Year by the City University of New York Graduate Center
Foundation. In 1999, he was presented with the “Many Faces of Starlight” award
by the Starlight Children’s Foundation of New York. He was a member of the
Links Club in New York from 2001-2007, and served on the advisory board of the
Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of
California at Berkley, Haas School of Business.

 He was a trustee and officer of the Urban Land Institute
in Washington, D.C., and president and chairman of the Board of Directors of
the National Parking Association, and a member of the Harvard Graduate School
of Design Advisory Committee on Real Estate Development. This spring, Carell
was honored by the Council of the City of New Orleans at a dinner in New
Orleans for his leadership and contributions to the business community there.

 Carell also served a stint as vice chairman of the Junior
Tennis Counsel of the United States Tennis Association and treasurer of the
Southern Tennis Association. For many years he was director of the Boys’ 16
National Clay Court Tournament, held at Belle Meade Country Club. A strong
believer in fitness, Carell was a regular walker in Percy Warner Park and
Nashville greenways. He logged several miles a day on weekdays and up to 10
miles a day on weekends.

 Among his awards was the Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award in
2000, by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the 2001 Vanderbilt
University School of Engineering Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Tennessee
Hospital Association Meritorious Service Award in 2004 and the Easter Seals of
Tennessee 2008 Nashvillian of the Year.

 Carell was also made a Knight of St. Gregory the Great in
2005 by Pope John Paul II.

 In addition to his public philanthropy, Carell was
constantly moved to action on the behalf of someone in need, said Bond.

 “Something would come along and move him and he would
turn rocks over or do whatever it took to make it happen,” Bond said. “He did
so many (charitable) things that not many people knew about.”

 Visitation with the family will be on Sunday, June 22
from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. at the Fleming Center at the Cathedral of the
Incarnation, 2015 West End Avenue, Nashville.

 A public memorial service to celebrate Monroe Carell’s
life will be held at the Cathedral of the Incarnation at 3:00 p.m. following
visitation. A private funeral and mass will be held at the St. Cecilia Chapel,
with burial at Calvary Cemetery.

 In lieu of flowers, the Carell family asks that memorial
donations be made to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt,
Gift Records Office, VU Station B 357727, Nashville, TN 37235-7727 or the St.
Cecilia Congregation, c/o Development Office, 801 Dominican Drive, Nashville,
TN 37228-1909.

Our heartfelt condolences to the Carell family.

JVH