Russell G. Cleary

Russell G. Cleary attended UWL from 1951-54, UW Madison Law School from 1954-57, and earned the Graff Distinguished Alumni Award in 1980. Cleary built La Crosse’s Heileman Brewing Company into one of the largest breweries in the country. In addition to numerous other awards, he was named Executive of the Year by “Corporate Report Magazine” in 1980. Cleary, a strong supporter of UWL, was committed to serving the La Crosse community.

Russell G. Cleary was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; however, he was orphaned at a young age. Following his parents’ deaths, he went to live with his aunt and grandmother in La Crosse, While in La Crosse, Cleary attended Franklin Elementary School, and Logan Junior and Senior High Schools. While at Logan High School, Cleary was editor of the school’s yearbook and a leader on the debate team. Following his high school graduation, Cleary attended the University of La Crosse’s three-year pre-law program and was accepted to the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1954, graduating in 1957. Cleary had the intention of moving to Reedsburg, Wisconsin to begin a law practice, but he and his wife returned to La Crosse, and he began working in real estate law.

Roy Kumm became president of the G. Heileman Brewing Company in 1957 and Cleary began working occasionally with Kumm on labor negotiations and business acquisitions. Cleary joined Heileman full-time as legal counsel for the company in 1960. Only four years after working at Heileman, Cleary was promoted to vice president and General Counsel of the company. Instead of merely assisting with labor contracts and acquisitions, Cleary was in charge of the following: labor negotiations, acquisitions, integration of acquired firms, labor relations, supervision of legal matters, divisional advertising, and company-owned real estate

In 1967 Cleary was named to the Board of Directors. Four years later Kumm resigned as president of the company due to health reasons, and he died only months later. Following Kumm’s resignation and death, Cleary was made president of the G. Heileman Brewing Company. One of Cleary’s first moves as president was to acquire several breweries as a part of Heileman’s 1972 purchase of Associated Brewing. The purchase of the company resulted in Heileman being catapulted up to 8th in the industry. The jump from 15th to 8th resulted in Heileman’s stock being traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time in May 1973. After the large jump in rank, Cleary went on a campaign to even further Heileman’s standing in the brewing industry ranks.

Cleary thought Heileman was the only viable company to compete with Anheuser-Busch and Miller.⁸ He continued his campaign of acquiring failing breweries, making several significant deals throughout his tenure as president. In 1977, Heileman purchased the Rainier brands and plant in Seattle, Washington. There was a deal in 1979 to acquire the Carling brands and several plants (Frankenmuth, Michigan; Baltimore, Maryland; Belleville, Illinois; Phoenix, Arizona, among others, which Heileman quickly sold or liquidated). Several contracts in 1983 put Heileman under control of a plant in Perry, Georgia; San Antonio, Texas, where they also purchased the Lone Star brand; and the Blitz-Weinhard Brewery; and brands in Portland, Oregon. Cleary’s last major brewery move came in 1986 when Heileman finished the construction on a Val Blatz Microbrewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to produce the Blatz brand, which they had purchased in 1969.

As a boss, Cleary was well-liked by his employees and wholesalers, having gone to high school with many of them. He was also well respected by his employees due to his union relations, as the union in La Crosse had some of the highest wages in the area. Many of his colleagues at Heileman and within the industry had positive things to say about Cleary.

Due to his commitment to the company and the La Crosse community, over the years, Cleary received many awards. Among his awards from the La Crosse area and the numerous financial and business magazines were the following:

1969 – Awarded one of the 100 Outstanding Men of America by the Junior Chamber of Commerce
1979 – Awarded the #1 Citizen of the Year of the City of La Crosse by the Mayor and City Council
1980 – Awarded the Executive of the Year Award by Corporate Report Magazine
1986 – Awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Arthur Young
1987 – Awarded the CEO of the Year Beverage Industry Bronze Award by Financial World Magazine
1993 – Inducted to the Boys and Girls Club Wall of Fame

Retirement
One of the stipulations with the Bond Corporation was that Cleary stayed on as head of the company. After an additional two years at the Bond-run brewing company, Cleary finally announced his retirement in 1989. Cleary only briefly came out of retirement after Alan Bond went bankrupt and was forced to sell Heileman to Hicks, Muse, Tate, and Furst in 1994. He remained with the company until it was sold to the Stroh Brewing Company in 1996.

Mr. Cleary passed away in 1997 at the age of 63.