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The son of a poor family during the Great Depression, Pohlad rose from humble beginnings to head a family-owned network of banking, bottling, real estate and other companies. Forbes magazine wrote in September that Pohlad was worth around $3.6 billion, ranking him No. 102 on the magazine’s list of America’s wealthiest people.

“Carl was the leader of our family as well as the founder and leader of our family businesses,” Pohlad’s three sons, Jim, Bob and Bill Pohlad said in a statement. “We’ve loved and respected him and are enormously proud of his accomplishments. And we will all miss him deeply.”

Funeral arrangements are still pending.

Pohlad purchased the Twins from the team’s original owner, Calvin Griffith, for $38 million in ‘84 and was at the helm during the club’s two World Series championships in 1987 and 1991. At the time he acquired the ballclub, Pohlad was widely credited for saving baseball in Minnesota.

“Since the day Carl Pohlad entered Major League Baseball, he made significant contributions to our game,” Commissioner Bud H. Selig said in a written statement. “He has been a true leader in our sport for the past 25 years. His devotion to the Minnesota Twins, the Twin Cities and Major League Baseball was remarkable.

“In my long career, I have never met a more loyal and caring human being. We will miss Carl and all of baseball joins me in sending our deepest condolences to the Pohlad family for the loss of our friend and partner.”

The third of eight children, Pohlad was born on Aug. 23, 1915, and had a strong work ethic instilled in him while working in the fields near Des Moines, Iowa. After leaving high school, Pohlad went on to win a football scholarship to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., in 1937 thanks to being recruited by Gonzaga alumnus Bing Crosby. During his football days, Pohlad also made some money by boxing in clubs along the West Coast. Pohlad left school during his senior year because, as he said, he was making too much money in his side job of selling used cars that had been repossessed by banks.

Pohlad then returned home to Iowa to work at Federal Discount Corp., a finance company headed by his sister Helen’s husband, Russell Stotesbery, before being drafted into the Army in 1942. He served in the Army from 1943-46, fighting during World War II in France, Germany, and Austria. He was wounded in battle and was awarded three Bronze Stars and four Purple Hearts during his service.

Pohlad would reunite with his brother-in-law following the war as they took control of Marquette Bank in Minneapolis in 1949. Pohlad gained sole control of it a few years later when his sister’s husband died. The acquisition of the bank was the start of Pohlad establishing himself as one of the most well-known businessmen in the Twin Cities. And he was known to many as a stoic dealmaker who never retired because he loved his work so much.

After returning home from the war, Pohlad also met his wife, Eloise, whom he married in Iowa in 1947. She raised their three sons and became a very influential person during Pohlad’s ownership of the Twins. Eloise is said to have played a role in keeping Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett in Minnesota when he had a chance to be a free agent. And prior to her death in November 2003, Eloise and Carl attended nearly every Twins home game together.

“The Minnesota Twins family is saddened by the death of our owner and strongest supporter, Carl R. Pohlad,” the Twins said in a statement Monday night. “Since purchasing the club in 1984, Carl’s leadership, vision and passion for Twins baseball inspired the franchise to win two World Series championships, two American League pennants and six division titles. That on-field success would never have been possible without the loyalty and support from Mr. Pohlad and his family.

“Off the field, Mr. Pohlad was a true pioneer helping lead Major League Baseball’s effort to create enhanced revenue sharing and competitive balance. But his enduring legacy will be the values he instilled from top to bottom — a commitment to hard work, family, and community. Carl always viewed the Twins as a community institution — worthy of preserving, growing and being something of which we could all be proud.”

Even after Eloise’s passing, Pohlad was still a fixture at the Metrodome until his health started to decline in recent years. A quiet and very private man, Pohlad didn’t spend a lot of time in the Twins’ clubhouse, but the players certainly respected him and how he ran the team.

“I remember one time when he brought a bunch of his banker friends into the clubhouse before a game, which he didn’t do very often,” former Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek said. “These guys are all dressed up in nice suits and I remember Mr. Pohlad coming over sheepishly, almost shy like a 6-year-old kid, to my locker, and he was almost afraid to ask me to come over and say hi to his friends. Here he is the owner, a multi-billionaire, and he was like a little kid asking for an autograph. It was neat to see a guy that loved the team so much and that he was not walking around acting like a big shot because he owned the team. I think he loved baseball more than he loved owning the team.”

Pohlad had other passions as well, including his commitment to philanthropic efforts in the Twin Cities. Over the nearly quarter-century he presided over the Twins, Pohlad and his family donated millions of dollars and devoted countless hours to the community through the Twins Community Fund and the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation. He and Eloise also started the Boys and Girls club in Minneapolis. The Twins’ annual award for community service is also named after the owner.

Pohlad came under scrutiny from the fans in 2001 when he offered to sell the team to Major League Baseball for a reported $150 million as part of a contraction plan by the league. It was one of the controversies that the team endured during Pohlad’s tenure, as the franchise struggled for more than a decade to get a new ballpark approved while it also battled to field a winning team during the 90s.

Still, Pohlad kept the franchise and watched as it was revitalized earlier this decade with the Twins winning division titles in four of the past seven seasons. The club also saw its future in Minnesota assured for the near future as it will open its new ballpark, Target Field, in 2010 — a testament to Pohlad’s persistence of keeping baseball alive in the Twin Cities.

It’s that commitment that his sons say they plan to keep as they will continue to run the team that their father loved so much: