A son of the Great Depression from southwest Minnesota, John W. Mooty rose to become one of the most powerful lawyers and businessmen in the Twin Cities.
He shepherded National Car Rental and International Dairy Queen through the second half of the 20th century, spearheaded one of the nation's leading franchise law practices, brokered a sale of the Minnesota Vikings and developed real estate while busying himself with family and a raft of civic and nonprofit pursuits.
He died April 17 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 92, and was active to the end. "He had clients calling him two weeks ago," said his son, Bruce Mooty.
The older of two sons born to a banker and teacher in Adrian, Minn., Mooty remembered as a boy in the Depression being sent to buy dinner for the family, but losing the dime he was given to pay for it. His family went without a meal that night, his son said, and the memory seared Mooty and gave him a drive for stewardship.
Mooty graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1944 and by 1954 was partner at the law firm where he stayed for 70 years, now called Gray Plant Mooty.
He married Virginia Mae "Ginny" Nelson in 1952, and the couple moved to Edina and had three boys — David, Bruce and Charles. Ginny died in 1964.
In the late 1950s, his brother-in-law, Ken Glaser, acquired the struggling National Car Rental. The firm was insolvent. Glaser enlisted Mooty as investor and general counsel, and transferred the headquarters to Minneapolis. Mooty negotiated a key agreement with General Motors, persuading the auto giant that they could do a deal without violating antitrust law. National stabilized and Mooty's group sold the company in 1969.
A similar group of investors purchased a controlling interest in Dairy Queen in 1970, and Mooty set about reviving the large, struggling franchiser. He served as chairman for 20 years and helped arrange the sale to Berkshire Hathaway for $575 million in 1997.
