David A. Siegel dies at 89

Westgate Resorts announced with great sadness the passing of its founder and executive chairman, David Siegel, on April 5, 2025. He was 89.

Siegel was born May 3, 1935, to Sadelle and Sid Siegel, a grocer, who moved the family and grocery business to Miami in 1945. Siegel grew up in Florida where he graduated from Miami Senior High School in 1953, and later studied marketing and management at the University of Miami, before dropping out.

Siegel established Westgate Resorts in 1982 with its first property on an orange grove he owned in Kissimmee, Fla., and it has since become the largest privately held timeshare company in the world and one of the largest resort developers in the United States.

During his career, Siegel received an honorary doctorate from Florida A&M University, ARDA's ACE Philanthropy Award, and Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year for the State of Florida. In 2013 he was inducted into the Central Florida Hospitality Hall of Fame by the University of Central Florida. Just this year, ARDA honored Siegel with its prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.

As a U.S. Air Force Veteran, Siegel has donated more than 28,000 complimentary vacations to members of our armed services as a thank you for their service to our country. The Westgate Foundation recently distributed grants of $1.5 million to community-focused organizations across the United States. He was also responsible for creating thousands of jobs, including for the 8,500 team members who currently work for Westgate.

While David will be remembered for his successful business ventures, after the passing of his beloved daughter Victoria in 2015, David's life mission radically changed toward solving the nation's drug epidemic. He founded the Victoria's Voice Foundation (www.victoriasiegelfoundation.org) to honor Victoria and advocated zealously for the widespread availability of Naloxone, lobbying Congress and raising awareness on this important issue. Some of his accomplishments include Victoria's Law in the state of Florida which mobilized the Department of Health and other statewide agencies to focus on awareness and tackling this epidemic. On a national level as well as within the state of Florida, he was instrumental in passing a law that declared June 6th, the day of Victoria's passing, as National Naloxone Awareness Day with more than 100 landmarks around the country lighting up purple to create awareness of this issue. His efforts also led to the passing of the CARA, Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, a federal law that unlocked significant funds to be used toward fighting the drug epidemic. His goal was to rally affected families around the leading cause of unnatural death amongst young people. Since then, the foundation's Save Our Kids Education and Prevention Programs have positively impacted more than one million students, parents, educators and community members nationwide.

In March 2018, the Rosen JCC named its lobby in honor of David and Jacqueline Siegel's daughter, Victoria. Siegel then shared about his advocacy against drugs through the Victoria's Voice Foundation

David Siegel Is survived by his wife, Jacqueline and children - Steven, Valerie, Richard, Susan, David, Daniel, Debbie, Drew, Jonquil, Jacqueline and Jordan; and 12 grandchildren and step-grandchildren. He is predeceased by his daughter, Victoria Siegel.