Chance Encounters: A Look at the Life of Auto Glass Mogul Rick Chance

When speaking of her late ex-husband, auto glass mogul Rick Chance (who owned Empire Glass in Phoenix), Jill Scott has little negative to say.

Chance and Scott married live on Good Morning America on Valentine's Day in 1996.

"When I first met him, I thought he was just amazing," Jill Scott, Chance's ex-wife, told glassBYTEs.com™/AGRR magazine in an exclusive interview. "He was very charismatic and so kind and gentle. I thought he was incredible. That's why I married him in six weeks. Both before and after I met Rick, I was dating some extraordinary men. But there was something about Rick that stood above all the rest."

Chance, the former owner of Empire Glass in Phoenix, made himself famous with his company jingles and ad campaigns, in which he offered free steaks. Though Chance was murdered seven years ago, he has been much in the news of late, as Brandi Hungerford, the stripper who lured him to the Tempe hotel room, and Robert Lemke, Hungerford's boyfriend, who ultimately murdered Chance, were sentenced recently. (CLICK HERE for related story.)

Scott, who divorced Chance in 1999 after three years of marriage, still looks back on their relationship fondly. The two had a whirlwind relationship, marrying only six weeks after their first meeting live on Good Morning America.

"He was a great person," she says. "When I think back on him, I think back that I never laughed as hard as I had with anyone. It was the silly goofy things that he would do that made life so fun."

Chance struck others much the same way he did Scott.

"He would walk into the room and draw everybody's attention," says Dennis L. Hall, Chance's friend who served as both his attorney and an attorney for the Arizona Auto Glass Association when Chance was involved with it. "He had kind of a John Wayne image. That's what he was like. He would come in and dominate a room. People wanted to know him."

While there are many differing opinions about Chance—and what led to his 2002 murder—all seem to agree he was a fascinating character in both his personal life and in business.

See the upcoming issue of AGRR, November-December 2007, for an exclusive look at Chance's life inside and outside the industry and the circumstances leading up to his murder.

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