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Friends and family plan to gather for funeral in Scottsdale.
Family and friends are mourning the loss of John Teets, 77, who passed away this past weekend in his Paradise Valley home of complications from Alzheimer’s disease. John was most well known as the former CEO of Greyhound, the Dial Corp, and later Viad.
The former Fortune 500 executive was also well known for his philanthropic nature and he and wife Nancy were well known among those involved in the charitable community. The avid athlete was also appreciated the cultural arts, and museums and was proud of his elaborate and rare French clock collection. A sports fan, John was also a familiar face throughout the years, seated courtside at the Phoenix Suns games.
John’s longtime friend, the sports legend turned entrepreneur and developer, Jerry Colangelo of JDM Partners, (former chairman of the Suns) and others credit John with helping to bring Arizona its first major league baseball team, The Arizona Diamondbacks, and revitalize downtown with the catalyst of the downtown basketball arena , now the U S Airways Center. They also credit him with leading the decision for Greyhound to invest $6 million in the Phoenix Suns, in the 1980’s , when the team was in jeopardy of relocating to another city.
One of the many charities in the Valley John supported was the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. He was general chairman for its 50th Anniversary Campaign in 1996, for example, for which he helped raise over $5 million in a 10-month period. His efforts made possible the building of a new Boy & Girls Club in Avondale, AZ, a scholarship fund for children venerable of dropping out of school, new computer labs in all nine of the Boys & Girls Clubs, and a $1 million endowment fund to ensure financial security for its programs and services.
John is pictured above with his longtime friend and business pal Bill Peltier also formerly of Dial and Viad, who has been very involved with and on the board of the Boys & Girls Clubs for many years.
John is survived by his wife Nancy, his four daughters and five grandchildren. Funeral arrangements are planned for August 11, at Scottsdale Bible Church, 7601 E. Shea Blvd, at 3:00 p.m.
Kathy Shayna Shocket is a Phoenix based Reporter, Photographer and TV-Field Producer. She is a former TV Reporter and has written for publications such as The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Money Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, and PEOPLE Magazine. She can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
