Milestones in the Life of Sir John Templeton

1912: Born in Winchester, Tennessee, on November 29

1934: Graduated from Yale University

1936: M.A. from Balliol College, Oxford

1937: Went to work on Wall Street

1937: Married Judith Folk; their three children are, John Jr., Anne, and Christopher

1940: Opened his own fund management company

1940: Son John Jr. is born

1942: Daughter Anne is born

1947: Son Christopher is born

1951: Wife Judith dies

1954: Started Templeton Growth Fund

1958: Married Irene Butler on New Year's Eve

1968: Moved his permanent residence to Lyford Cay, Nassau, the British Bahamas. In the same year he renounced his U.S. citizenship and became a subject of the British Crown

1972: Established the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion

1973: Mother Theresa of Calcutta is the first to win the prize

1987: Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II

1987: Founded the John Templeton Foundation

1992: Sold Templeton Growth Funds to Franklin Group

1993: Irene, his wife of 35 years, dies

1994: Retired from the board of Princeton's Theological Seminary after 42 years and 12 years as its chairman

1995: His son, Dr. John M. Templeton, Jr., becomes President of the Foundation

2001: John Templeton Foundation funds more than 245 initiatives in the areas of science, religion, character development and freedom

2002: Sir John turns 90 years old on November 29

2003: Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion renamed Templeton Prize for Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities

2004: Sir John donates $550 million to the John Templeton Foundation, increasing its assets to just under one billion dollars. Anne Templeton Zimmerman, daughter of Sir John, dies December 16, 2004

2006: Sir John appoints his son, John M. Templeton, Jr., M.D. to be Chairman of the John Templeton Foundation

2008: Sir John dies at age 95 on July 8, 2008, at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Bahamas, of pneumonia