Here's some info on him:

After Googling him and tracking hard enough you find that he was the parts service guy/partner in an outboard dealer/racing group in Seattle in 1948/49 +/-. Then Carl Kekaifer (sp) took a shine to him and let him and someone buy the Merc. Master distributorship and MONEY flowed. He had a house at Newport Beach that he sold in 1964 +/- to John Wayne when John's house in Hollywood burned and moved back to Needles Ca. I think that was home. He also had a rare coin shop in Newport. He also served in the Army Air Corp in N. Africa in WW2.

If you will check Rowland Ward records he still has some #1 and 2 heads in some of the Asia/Africa classes.