Hospitality Industry Mourns the Passing of Morris Lasky

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. March 30, 2015

CHICAGO, IL - March 26, 2015 - It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of industry giant, Morris E. Lasky, who after a private and brave battle with pancreatic cancer, passed quietly on Tuesday morning at his home with his wife Mary Lou by his side.

Morris Lasky was one of the most recognizable faces and names in the hospitality industry for more than 50 years. He was the founder and CEO of Lodging Unlimited, Inc., which provided management, consulting and arbitration services to hundreds of properties and directed more than $7 billion of management activities, development, real-estate and financing over the years. Morris also served as CEO and founder of the LUI Group and Lodging Opportunities Group.

Many people will know Morris as the Co-Chair, Founder and Producer of The Hotel Investment Networking Conference - THINC (in Chicago), the International Hotel Conference - IHC (in Monte Carlo and Rome), and more notably as Chairman and Co-Founder of the Lodging Conference (in Phoenix) which is now in its twenty-first successful year.

Steven J. Belmonte of Vimana Franchise Systems, a close friend recalls "I remember Morris Lasky giving me advice when I was a very young man and had just recently launched the Equity Hotel Corporation. He was so caring and compassionate that our friendship rooted immediately and has been strong ever since".

"There are few people in the industry that are as beloved as Morris Lasky", Belmonte adds. "He was always soft-spoken and ready to help whenever help was needed. He was the first to be involved with any charitable and philanthropic efforts which occupied a good portion of his life. He was a gentleman and cut from the same cloth as the likes of Jack Vaughn, Mike Leven, Lee Dushoff - all men who influenced hundreds of budding hospitality entrepreneurs through the decades".

Morris Lasky Morris Lasky formed Lodging Unlimited in 1970 to provide quality management, consulting and marketing services to the hospitality industry. During the past 38 years, he successfully directed Lodging Unlimited's corporate growth and oversaw $7 billion in management activity, consulting, development, real estate acquisitions, sales and financings to the hotel industry.

Before forming Lodging Unlimited, from 1962 to 1970, he served as Senior Vice President of American Motor Inns, a Helmsley-Spears, Inc. subsidiary formed to acquire troubled hospitality properties. He began his hospitality career in 1956 with Motel Enterprises, Inc. as a General Manager and was promoted to Vice President of Operations for the entire chain at age 23.

During his career, Mr. Lasky had successfully testified as an expert witness in multi-million dollar cases involving nationally recognized hotel brands. He was a member of the prestigious "Waldorf-Astoria Distinguished Alumni" group, and was featured in many major business publications such as Time, Business Week, and Success. He had also appeared in the hotel, real estate and financial trade press, and was a guest lecturer for many hospitality, banking and pension administration groups.

Mr. Lasky was also a guest lecturer at The School of Hospitality Business, Michigan State University, and a panelist for the University of Delaware's Hotel Restaurant & Institutional Management roundtable series as part of the University's Mind Extension cable programming.

In addition to being a member of the organizing committees for Rudnick & Wolfe's Lodging and Timeshare Summit and the ABA/IPBA Joint Seminar on International Hotels, Resorts & Tourism held in Spain, Mr. Lasky was a member of the speaker faculty for these events. He also participated in the International Multicultural Tourism/Hotel Ownership Summit.

"I loved him as a friend and will miss him dearly. Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship which struggles on in the survivors mind toward some final resolution, some clear meaning, which it perhaps never finds. The relation that hundreds of people have had with Morris will continue for a very long time." concluded Belmonte.

A “Celebration of Morris' Life” will be held Monday, April 6th from 3:00pm - 8:00pm at Cog Hill Golf Course Club House in Lemont, IL where Morris loved to golf. A Funeral Mass will be offered by his brother-in-law, Fr. Tom Koys, on Tuesday, April 7th at 11:00am at St. James at Sag Bridge Church also in Lemont, Illinois. In lieu of flowers the family is asking for donations to: University of Chicago, Cancer Research Foundation, For Dr. Hedy Kindler and Dr. Joseph Baron, 5841 S. Maryland Ave., MC1140, Chicago, IL 60637.

For additional information please contact:
Amanda Belmonte
Vimana Franchise Systems, LLC
12830 Jacob Grace Court
Windermere, FL 34786-5711
Phone: (407) 654-5540
Fax: (407) 654-4601
[email protected]
www.VimanaFS.com