South Florida

Wayne Huizenga Remembered For Influences on South Florida Business, Sports During Memorial Service

What to Know

  • Mourners gathered Thursday to remember the life of Wayne Huizenga, honoring the man who was a leader in the business and sports community.
  • Huizenga would create the movie rental giant Blockbuster Video as well as the AutoNation car dealership chain along with Waste Management.
  • Huizenga would make his name in the sports seen when he owned the Miami Dolphins, the then Florida Marlins and Florida Panthers.

Mourners gathered Thursday to remember the life of Wayne Huizenga, honoring the man who was a leader in the business and sports community in South Florida for much of the last 50 years.

The life of Huizenga, who died last Friday at the age of 80, was celebrated at a memorial service inside the Au-Rene Theater at the Broward Performing Arts Center.

Born in the Chicago area in 1937, Huizenga and his family moved to Fort Lauderdale as a teenager where he later graduated from Pine Crest School. In the early 1960’s, he started a garbage hauling company that would eventually become Waste Management Inc. and helped make it one of the largest in the country.

Huizenga would later go on to create the movie rental giant Blockbuster Video as well as the AutoNation car dealership chain – both joining Waste Management as companies to be listed on the Fortune 500.

Huizenga would make his name in the South Florida sports seen when he owned the Miami Dolphins, the then Florida Marlins and the Florida Panthers. He sold the Marlins shortly after their 1997 World Series win, later selling the Dolphins and Panthers.

He would donate millions to causes and organizations in his adopted Broward County, including the School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University, the Boys and Girls Club and many more.

Huizenga is survived by two children from his first marriage and three adopted children from his second marriage of nearly 45 year marriage to Marti, who died in January 2017 after a long battle with cancer.

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