Founder of U-Haul Shoen dies in crash

Ed Koch and Gary Thompson

Tuesday, Oct. 5, 1999 | 11:40 a.m.

Leonard S. Shoen, the founder of U-Haul, which revolutionized the do-it-yourself moving industry, has died in Las Vegas. He was 83.

The Clark County coroner's office confirmed today that Shoen was killed Monday morning when the car he was driving struck a power pole on Stephanie Street.

It was not immediately known whether Shoen died from the impact of the single-vehicle collision or a pre-existing medical condition, the coroner's office said. An autopsy is pending.

Shoen has been a resident in Las Vegas for more than 10 years. Private services are planned.

Metro Police say Shoen was driving his 1994 Acura southbound on Stephanie Street shortly before 11:25 a.m. when the car left the road for no apparent reason and struck a wooden Nevada Power pole.

Shoen, who founded U-Haul in 1945, has been owner of the World Trade Center hotel on Desert Inn Road since 1996.

After the state Gaming Control Board approved the fast-tracking of his nonrestricted gaming license in May 1998, he withdrew the application this past May.

Shoen had been embroiled in court battles with two of his sons since 1986 after he was ousted as chairman of Amerco, Inc., U-Haul's parent company.

Shoen was born Feb. 29, 1916.

His concept for U-Haul was developed out of a need to provide inexpensive means of moving a post-World War II American population that had become migratory, especially to the western United States.

Shoen came up with the idea to provide do-it-yourself one-way moving trailers on a nationwide basis, creating an industry that today is widespread and thriving.

With an initial investment of $5,000, he started the company with his then-wife Anna Mary Carty Shoen at the Carty Ranch in Ridgefield, Wash., where they built the first U-Haul trailers in a milk house in the fall of 1945.

The original U-Haul trailers were painted bright orange and rented for $2 a day, according to the Phoenix-based company's website. By 1949 it was possible to rent U-Haul trailers one way from city to city throughout most of the United States.

Today the company has 14,000 independent dealers and 1,100 company-owned moving centers. It is the leading company in the truck and trailer rental industry and the second largest self-storage facility operator.

A complete list of Shoen's survivors was not available. Sun reporter

Shaunta Grimes contributed to this report.