J. Willard Marriott - Early Life

Early Life

Marriott was born at Marriott Settlement near Ogden, Utah, and was raised on his father's farm. His father gave him considerable responsibility at an early age: he was sent to San Francisco on his own with 3,000 sheep in a railcar at the age of 14.

At the age of 19 and as a devout Mormon, he undertook the traditional missionary work of the church for two years, being assigned to New England. On his way home after completing his mission, he passed through Washington D.C. during the sweltering summer months of 1921. While there:

"... e walked from Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument, toiled up the steps to the top, walked back down again, and strolled over to the Lincoln Memorial. Everywhere he went tourists and pedestrians sweltered and sweated in the sultry, humid air. On the way back to his hotel, he just stood there in the street watching the crowds, he couldn't get over it: a push cart peddler would come along the street selling lemonade and soda pop and ice cream, and in minutes he would be cleaned out and on his way to stock up with another cartload".

Marriott was a brother of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at the University of Utah and of Alpha Kappa Psi, his son J. W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. was a member of Sigma Chi. After graduating from Weber College in June 1923 and later, the University of Utah in June 1926, Marriott remembered his experience in Washington, D.C. and decided to look into a venture there.