Adorable Story #54: Jim Kimberly
The gentleman driver, Palm Beach socialite, and heir to the Kimberly-Clark Kleenex fortune
“One great hobby — I follow it religiously — is staying alive”
—Jim Kimberly
James “Jim” Kimberly was born in 1908 and spent the first 12 years of his life in Neenah, Wisconsin. He was the grandson of John A. Kimberly, one of the four founders of the paper conglomerate Kimberly-Clark Corp.
In 1929, he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He earned the nickname Gray Fox because of his snowy hair, and he wore a gold earring in one ear in the 1950s, way before it became fashionable.
In 1931, after graduating from the MIT, Jim joined Kimberly-Clark slowly ascending the corporate ladder to finally become the head of the International Cellucotton Products branch (supervising the production of Kleenex, Kotex and Delsey lines).
During World War II, Jim served as an assistant director of the Coast Guard Auxiliary.
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Races
As a kid, Jim raced iceboats on Lake Winnebago with legendary ferocity and even won a few cups with Phantom II, a famous racing sailboat.
Since 1949, when he first drove a Jaguar XK120, his interest turned to sports cars. From his first Jaguar, he progressed to a Healey Silverstone and then to an array of Maseratis and Ferraris.
His passion for cars made him the president of the Sports Car Club of America Inc. and in 1956, he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated after winning the Sebring International race on a Ferrari.
In the 50s alone, Jim Kimberly owned the following Ferraris (most of them now virtually priceless):
166 MM Barchetta Touring 0010 M
195 S Berlinetta Touring 0060 M
340 America Barchetta Touring 0124 AM
340 America Spider Vignale 0204 A
225 Sport Spider Vignale 0220 ED
375 MM Spider Pinin Farina 0364 AM
375 Plus Spider Pinin Farina 0384 AM
121 LM Spider Scaglietti 0532 LM
625 LM Spider Touring 0642 MDTR
In particular, the cherry red 1954 Ferrari 375 Plus Spider racer was owned by Jim Kimberly until 1958 when he sold its damaged body for USD 2,500 to a gentleman named Karl Kleve.
After a multi-year legal battle, the car would be later owned by the Victoria Secret’s owner Lex Wexner — who paid USD 16.5m for it — then by the fashion giant Ralph Lauren and finally by the Milanese billionaire Giorgio Perfetti (founder of the confectionary conglomerate Perfetti Van Melle).
In 1956, Jim moved from Chicago to Palm Beach, and in 1968, he retired from Kimberly-Clark after a 37 years career.
He then proceeded to set up his own USD 5 million investment firm and purchased a cattle farm in Maryland.
Jacqueline Kimberly
Roberta Jacqueline Trezise was born in 1950, the daughter of John Trezise, a Connecticut investment banker: she was just 17 years old, working as a part-time receptionist at a Palm Beach art gallery, when she met the silver-haired Jim Kimberly at a party.
Two years later, in 1969, the two were married, living on North Lake Way, and playing host to frequent house guest King Hussein of Jordan.
As years passed by, King Hussein became a sort of family friend, so much that when he usually landed in Florida, it was Jim Kimberly (purposely appointed Honorary Consul of Jordan) who went to pick him up and escort him directly to their Palm Beach mansion.
King Hussein was so appreciative of Mrs. Kimberly’s hospitality that he later bought her a white 246 GTS Ferrari Dino (SN 7916/1974) as a token of his gratitude.
Pulitzer divorce
Jacqueline Kimberly was widely talked about in the media in 1982 because of her involvement in the high-profile divorce case between Roxanne Pulitzer and her husband Peter Pulitzer (she was his second wife, after he had divorced Lillian “Lilly” Pulitzer in 1969).
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