Before the 1950s, “resort” was probably not the first word that came to mind when people thought about retirement. But Del Webb helped change that with a grand, Western retirement community.

Three Takeaways:

• If not for typhoid, Webb may never have come up with his plan for the aptly titled Sun City. The disease knocked him out of baseball, and his recovery introduced him to the healing, relaxing warmth of Arizona.
• Webb made millions of dollars in real estate and construction. He also became buddies with celebrities, such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, and the (infamous) Bugsy Siegel.
• Webb started work in the 1950s on Sun City. On its opening weekend, Sun City attracted 100,000 people — 90,000 more than expected — and put Webb on the cover of Time magazine.

More reading:

• The New York Times writes about how retirement communities have changed over the years.
• Del Webb died on July 4, 1974. Read his obituary in the New York Times.
• USA Today looks at how Sun City has evolved since its opening.