Andrew J Melton Jr

In 1979, two years after San Francisco-based Dean Witter & Co. and New York-based Reynolds Securities combined in what was then the largest merger in Wall Street history, Melton was named to succeed William Witter as chairman and chief executive officer of the merged Dean Witter Reynolds Organization, the nation’s fifth-largest brokerage. He had previously been president. In 1981, Chicago-based Sears announced it would buy Dean Witter, with its 300 branch offices around the U.S., for about $607 million in cash and stock, part of its goal to become the largest consumer-oriented financial-service company. Earlier that same week, Sears had reached agreement to buy Coldwell, Banker & Co., then the largest U.S. real-estate broker. Dean Witter continued to operate independently as a Sears unit, with Melton as CEO and chairman. He gave up those posts in 1982 to become full-time chairman of Sears’s financial-planning committee. Through the Dean Witter unit, Sears in 1985 introduced the Discover Card. In 1993, Sears spun off Dean Witter as Dean Witter Discover & Co. and returned its focus to retail. Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter merged in 1997 to form Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. Melton was chairman of Dean Witter Funds until 1992. Melton graduated from Villanova University in Pennsylvania in 1942 and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in World War II. Recalled to active duty in 1950 during the Korean War, he was discharged from the Marine Corps Reserves as a major. From 1946 to 1972, he worked at Smith Barney & Co., rising to chairman of the executive committee. He joined Dean Witter in 1972 as an executive vice president in investment banking. His wife of 55 years, Mary Ann, died in 1999. Survivors include his companion, Barbara Fazio; eight children, Diana Melton Lemmen, Andrew J. Melton III, Robert S. Melton, Karen Melton Fox, Marjorie Melton Field, Sandra Melton Lessing, Michaelle Melton Stott and Edward L. Melton; 23 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.