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Former Brown-Forman president William Street dies

William M. Street, the former president of Brown-Forman, has died at the age of 79 following a battle against cancer.

Willliam M. Street will be remembered as a “gracious and good man”

The Princeton graduate, who was also known as Bill, worked at Brown-Forman for his entire career, initially working as a sales trainee when he joined the firm in 1956.

He served as president of the company from 2000 until his retirement in 2003. He was also a member of the firm’s board of directors for 40 years until 2011.

Street was also inducted into the Kentucky Distillers Association Hall of Fame in 2015. He was the former chairman of Greater Louisville Inc, the Governor’s Scholars Program, and the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority.

Brown-Forman chief executive officer Paul Varga said in a statement: “Bill Street will be remembered fondly by us all as an enormously successful Brown-Forman president and board member, a luminary in the global spirits industry, and a prominent Louisville civic leader.

“Most notably, however, he will be remembered as a gracious and good man who enriched the lives of so many people at our company and in our community. We will miss him dearly, and our thoughts are very much with his wife Lindy and his family on this sad occasion.”

Brown-Forman chairman Garvin Brown also paid tribute. He said: “Working closely at that time with Brown-Forman Corporation chairman and CEO Owsley Brown II, Bill and other executives developed and implemented the company’s globalisation strategy in the mid-1990s, propelling Brown-Forman to expand its international business to encompass more than 170 countries around the globe.

“This strategy was the foundation that enabled the company’s outstanding period of growth and success over the last 20 years. Bill was also a strong source of stability on the Brown-Forman board of directors for over four decades and his counsel during that span is directly reflected in the company’s remarkable standing today.”

Street is survived by his wife Lindy Barber Street, daughter Woody Gardner and
 stepchildren Liz Quail (Brian), Sallie Talbott, Jennie Talbott (Jim), Kit Walden, Martha Lee Walden, and Bob Weldon (Maria); and his grandchildren Ty, Warner, Amelia, Chloe, Sophia, Isabelle, Robert, Maggie, Jackson, Hunter, and Tyler.

Visitation is scheduled on 3 August from 3-7pm at Louisville Collegiate School in Kentucky. The funeral will be held the following day at 10.30am at St Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Expressions of sympathy may be made to Louisville Collegiate School and Gilda’s Club Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky.

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