Frank Lyon Jr. survived crocodiles in the Belgian Congo and a cancer diagnosis in 1987.
After recovering from the disease to live 28 years longer, Lyon died Sunday in Little Rock at 74. His cause of death was not available late Monday.
A Little Rock native, Lyon had a passion for hunting, conservation and philanthropy.
At 14, Lyon spent three weeks living with missionaries in what was then the Belgian Congo. There, he slept in a pup tent and developed an affection for Africa. At one point, Lyon found himself sitting in a tree to keep crocodiles at bay while Africans dressed the hippopotamus he had just shot in the river below.
Lyon returned to Africa numerous times. It was his favorite place to vacation, according to a 2006 profile in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Lyon's father, Frank Lyon Sr., began supporting Arkansas College in Batesville in the 1940s. His son followed suit, serving for almost 30 years on the college's board of trustees and as chairman of the board for four years.
In 1994, Arkansas College was renamed Lyon College to honor the family for its financial support, although the modest Lyons initially didn't like the idea.
Charles Roettger, who was president of Lyon College from 1998-2009, said the younger Lyon was "a source of guidance and counsel to me and all of us at the college."
"You could call him and ask, and he would offer advice," Roettger said. "But he always let you make the decision. He shaped and he guided, but he didn't direct."
Roettger said Lyon had great loyalty to his family, his friends and his faith.
"He was a very principled man and a pleasure to work with," Roettger said. "You always knew where you stood with Frank. He was an awfully smart fellow. He was a consummate businessman."
Donald Weatherman, the current president of the college, said Lyon "savored life in a way that infected anyone around him."
"Whether it was his sound judgment in the board room or his keen eye in the duck blind, Dr. Lyon was an inspiration to all who had the privilege to know him," Weatherman said.
"Like his father, he was a remarkable businessman who was just as generous as he was successful."
Hunting was a theme throughout Lyon's life. Some of his earliest memories were of riding on his father's shoulders as they waded into an Arkansas duck blind or through deer woods.
Frank Lyon Sr. died of heart failure in 1998 at 88. He was a traveling salesman for General Foods Corp. when his son was born in 1941. Soon after, the elder Lyon became a sales manager with Gunn Distributing Co., an appliance wholesaler in Little Rock. In 1942, he started his own wholesale business, which became the exclusive distributor for RCA products in Arkansas.
As the only child, Lyon grew along with the family's holdings. Over the next four decades, the Lyon family would invest in downtown Little Rock commercial buildings, including the Worthen Bank and First Federal Savings and Loan buildings. They acquired, among other things, a controlling interest in Twin City Bank in North Little Rock.
Lyon attended public schools in Little Rock until his senior year, when Central High was closed as the result of the 1957-59 desegregation crisis. At that point, the family agreed that he would finish high school in Arkadelphia while living with Bill McMillan, a friend with whom Frank Lyon Sr. served on the board of Arkansas College (now Lyon College) in Batesville. The McMillans had four children.
Lyon worked with his father at the Frank Lyon Co. every summer from the time he was 9, sorting mail, packing and shipping parcels. When old enough, he moved to a job in the warehouse.
After high school, Lyon was accepted at Davidson College in North Carolina. He transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for his junior and senior years, completing ROTC training and enlisting in the Army upon graduation. He graduated with honors in 1963.
After fulfilling his military duty, Lyon went to Harvard Business School, where he received a master's degree in business administration in 1967.
Lyon came back to Arkansas, where he went through the marketing training program at Frank Lyon Co., then started work on the order desk.
Lyon had been on the road selling Whirlpool appliances for about a year when he and his dad learned that the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Arkansas would soon be on the market. They worked together on acquiring the business.
At 28, the younger Lyon became chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Arkansas.
In 1977, Lyon married his wife, Jane, who had two daughters from a previous marriage.
In 1987, he was diagnosed with cancer.
"He was without a doubt the bravest person I've ever been around," his wife said in a 2006 interview. "At that point, the prognosis was extremely bad, and he and his father started selling their businesses because they didn't think anyone would be around to run them. Frank jumped in and absolutely masterminded the whole thing while he was really ill."
Lyon recovered and continued to work.
The family sold Coca-Cola Bottling in 1989, reportedly for $250 million. Around that time, the family businesses had an estimated worth of at least $500 million.
Besides the bottling company and his father's namesake company, Lyon was chairman, president or director of many companies, including TC Bankshares, Wingmead Inc., Arkansas Irrigation Co. and US Bank of Arkansas.
Wingmead Farms, located south of DeValls Bluff, has been recognized as one of the nation's foremost duck-hunting clubs.
"In a decent year at Wingmead Farms, Frank Lyon will see half a million ducks," began a 1985 article in the Chicago Tribune.
Also, Frank and Jane Lyon began Summer Wind Farm -- a thoroughbred breeding business -- in Georgetown, Ky., in 1995.
Lyon was known by his friends as "the stealth philanthropist" because he quietly supported many charities across Arkansas.
His civic service included involvement in the Greater Little Rock Chamber of Commerce, Little Rock Boys Club, Goodwill Industries, Arkansas Children's Hospital, United Way and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
Metro on 11/10/2015