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VEGAS INC REHAB DOCTOR ON PARALYZED INVESTOR: 'HE'S A DIFFERENT BREED' GLANKLER, From page 1 walk more than 20 feet without sitting down. Glankler's accident didn't change his bulldog personality, either. A former debt collector from Memphis, Tenn., he spouts profanity, is fiercely independent, keeps cigarettes and a loaded 9 mm gun on his wheelchair and regularly bosses people around, including his doctors. He also remains generous, giving his workers bonuses during business dry spells. He once gave away his electricpowered wheelchair to a janitor whose father needed one. "He's a different breed," said Dave Patterson, Glankler's doctor at Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation in Pomona, Calif. Today, Glankler, the founder of Voyager Cos., has an office at the Hughes Center, an office park near the Strip, but he mainly works from his backyard in Henderson with his brother and business partner, Adam Glankler. They don't like being cooped up, so they outfitted the back patio with desks, phones, computers and a wall-mounted big-screen TV, not to mention a custom-made 10-seat poker table that often doubles as a boardroom. They have acquired homes in Southern Nevada, an ice rink in Michigan, apartments in Virginia and land in Atlanta. They're not the biggest investors, but they're not trying to be. Frank Glankler enjoys hunting for deals and sprucing up properties. He doesn't need the money he earns. Still, he would be hard-pressed to turn it down. His ringtone keeps him focused, blaring the song lyrics, "Money, money, money, money ... money!" "There's a reason I'm doing what I'm doing, man," he said with a laugh. ••• To understand Glankler, it's best to start with his dad. Frank J. Glankler Jr., the son of a wellknown Memphis lawyer, lied to the military about his age and enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at 17. He fought as a flame thrower in World War II on Peleliu Island, where some of the fiercest combat of the war took place. Despite being hit twice by machine-gun fire and shrapnel, Glankler was one of a handful of men from his company of 200 soldiers to survive. He returned to Tennessee and became one of the best civil and criminal defense lawyers in Memphis. 16 20131014_VI01_F.indd 16 Glankler, who died in 2007, was a tough, wiry man, 5-foot-9, 140 pounds. He loved the outdoors, and he loved guns. At his law firm, Glankler Brown, he often sat in boardroom meetings tinkering with a pistol, said Bill Bradley, chief manager of the firm. In December 1993, Glankler, then in his mid-60s, went duck hunting near a farm he owned in Moscow, Tenn., about an hour's drive from Memphis. He was walking along the banks of the heavily forested Wolf River when ground gave way and he found himself waist deep in icy water. When he tried to walk out, he lost his eyeglasses and waders, leaving him disoriented and clothed in only a cotton jumpsuit. It was below freezing outside, with parts store and became acting manager at 20. He earned a percentage of the store's profits but realized he could boost his share by collecting on bad checks instead of using an outside agency for the job. He was good at tracking people down, and after realizing he couldn't make much money at the auto parts store, he became a private investigator. He earned a better living but didn't strike it rich and constantly faced death threats. One night, after such a threat, Frank went to a bar and mulled over what to do with his life. He wrote a list of career options on a napkin, listing industries that would last forever — food, liquor, gambling, prostitution, drugs, real estate. He quickly narrowed his options down to food and real estate. He couldn't see "When Glankler awoke from surgery, he saw his father standing at the foot of his bed. Frank Jr. had heard the prognosis and told his son that he would be a quadriplegic. He asked Three what he thought. His son blinked back, 'Bull****.' " winds of 30 mph. Eventually, Glankler climbed into the branches of a tree and waited. He was rescued after being stuck for 18 hours. Bradley was one of several people looking for him that day, and when he first saw him in the river, Glankler looked liked an icicle. He also was smoking a cigarette. "That would be classic Frank," Bradley said. His son Frank J. Glankler III, whom he called "Three" because of his thirdgeneration name, was born in 1949. When he was 16, Glankler moved out of his parents' house after his girlfriend — later his first wife — became pregnant. He rented a small apartment for the two of them, went to school until 3 p.m. and worked at a gas station from 4 p.m. to midnight, five days a week. Later, he worked as a laborer, building a bridge over the Mississippi River. At first, he shoveled dirt and did other manual work. But when the steelworkers on the job went on strike, he crossed the picket line for a boost in pay. When he drove to the work site with other strikebreakers, union men shot their cars with nail guns and beat the vehicles with bats. Glankler left that job to work for an auto himself in the grocery business, though, and he had read that the wealthiest people in America owned property. The next day, he looked for companies that might want a guy with his background. ••• In 1979, Glankler landed a position in the superintendent training program at U.S. Home Corp. He rose through the ranks into senior management, eventually running operations in several states. He left the company in 1986, did some consulting work, and in the summer of 1992, launched the Arizona division of the Forecast Group, a Southern California homebuilder. He stayed with that company until fall 1993, left for a short stint in the tech industry, then returned to Forecast in 1995 as vice president of operations. Six months later, he was named chief operating officer. Forecast sold about 1,000 homes a year and wasn't always profitable. Glankler brought discipline and organization to the company, pushing rank-and-file workers to do more. "It sounds like a simple, obvious approach, but it isn't," former CEO Jim Previti said. Glankler's annual bonus was based on Forecast's profits, and both soared with Glankler on board. He earned $140,000 in total compensation in 1996, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission show. Five years later, he brought home $3 million. In January 2002, national builder Hovnanian Enterprises bought Forecast's California operations for $176 million. GlanklerbecamepresidentofHovnanian's largest regional division, overseeing operations in Arizona, California and Nevada. His group produced $1.3 billion a year in revenue. Glankler made piles of money for himself, too. He earned $8.5 million in 2004 alone. That same year, he was waiting for his wife and mother-in-law to get ready for a Sunday brunch when he decided to grab a few bottles of water from the refrigerator of his Scottsdale, Ariz., home. There was a baby gate in the kitchen, a barrier for his dogs. Glankler had tripped over it before but always caught his balance. He often said that someone was going to get hurt on the gate and break their neck. This time when he stepped over it, the gate came loose and stuck between his legs. Glankler couldn't balance himself and fell headfirst into the corner of the countertop. He turned to avoid hitting his pituitary gland, which could have killed him instantly. Glankler figured he might gash his forehead and need stitches. Instead, he heard his neck crack, pinching his spinal cord and killing millions of cells. His then-wife Angel heard the fall and came running downstairs. A helicopter rushed Glankler to a trauma center in downtown Scottsdale, where he underwent six hours of surgery to rebuild his neck with titanium rods, bolts and cadaver bones. Doctors worried that he would die that night. Glankler spent the next four days on a respirator, blinking to communicate. His friends and family were devastated. When word of what happened spread around his office, employees sobbed. When Glankler awoke from surgery, he saw his father standing at the foot of his bed. Frank Jr. had heard the prognosis and told his son that he would be a quadriplegic. He asked Three what he thought. His son blinked back, "Bull****." ••• Frank Glankler III spent three weeks in the hospital. Doctors had no hope for his | 14 October 2013 | 10/10/13 2:23:52 PM