Business Magnate. Billionaire who co-founded the International Amway Corp. He was one of Michigan's leading philanthropists, and a champion of conservatism and capitalism, according to Greg McNeilly, executive director of the Michigan Republican Party. Van Andel had Parkinson's disease, a disorder of the central nervous system that involves a degeneration of nerve cells in parts of the brain. The cause of his death was not immediately known. "We're deeply saddened by the loss of a man of great integrity who has been a strong Republican supporter for a number of years," said McNeilly, speaking on behalf of state GOP Chairwoman Betsy DeVos. DeVos is married to Dick DeVos, a former Amway official whose father, Richard DeVos, co-founded Amway with Van Andel. The Van Andel and DeVos families gave away a combined $95 million between 1990 and 1998 alone. Much of Van Andel's giving went toward Christian causes, including a creation research station in rural Arizona that sought to prove the world was made in a week. Van Andel also reshaped his hometown of Grand Rapids over the years. In 1978, Amway bought the 65-year-old Pantlind Hotel, restored it, added a 29-story tower and reopened it in 1981 as the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. A downtown arena that opened in 1996 was named for Van Andel after his foundation donated $11.5 million toward its $75 million cost. The Van Andel Museum Center was added later. Forbes magazine this year estimated Van Andel's fortune at $2.3 billion, 231st on its list of the nation's wealthiest people. The multibillion-dollar enterprise called Amway grew out of Van Andel's early knack for salesmanship. The then 15-year-old Van Andel offered classmate Richard DeVos a daily ride to Grand Rapids Christian High School in his Model A Ford in exchange for 25 cents a week in gas money. Returning to Grand Rapids after World War II, Van Andel and DeVos tried their hands at several businesses. The first was a flying school that had one airplane, a Piper Cub fitted with pontoons to use the Grand River for takeoffs and landings while the runways at the airfield they were building were under construction. They later opened Grand Rapids' first drive-in restaurant. Van Andel and DeVos ventured into person-to-person sales in 1949, forming the Ja-Ri Corp. and selling vitamins and food supplements. He married Betty, and founded Amway in 1959, operating out of the basements of their neighboring homes and selling a single product, a biodegradable household cleaner called L.O.C.