Former Chase head Willard Butcher dies at age 85

(AP) Former Chase Manhattan Bank chairman and CEO Willard Butcher has died at 85.

Fraser Seitel, a family friend and former Chase spokesman, says Butcher died Saturday of cancer in Hobe Sound, Fla.

Born in Westchester County outside New York City, the Brown University graduate and World War II Navy veteran joined the bank in 1947. He headed its retail and corporate business, then operations in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa.

Butcher was named Chase president and chief operating officer in 1972. He succeeded David Rockefeller as chairman and CEO in 1980 and retired in 1991.

Under the two men, Chase expanded to more than 50 countries. In 2000, the bank merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. to become JPMorgan Chase.

Rockefeller says Butcher "worked tirelessly to enhance the bank's position around the world."