You’re invited to play the Fort Dodge version of ‘Jeopardy’
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As founder of Nebraska Furniture Mart, her business story "has no parallel," said the legendary Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha.
She was born in 1893 in present-day Belarus and journeyed to the United States in 1917, first to Seattle and then to Fort Dodge and then to Omaha where in 1933 she founded Nebraska Furniture Mart, selling used furniture. She grew the business to become the largest indoor furniture store in America and in 1983 Buffett purchased a 90 percent share for $60 million (and expanded it to Des Moines, Kansas City, Dallas and next year to Austin, Texas).
When he purchased her store, now part of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett said, "I am delighted that Mrs. B has again linked up with us. Her business story has no parallel and I have always been a fan of hers, whether she was a partner or a competitor. But believe me, partner is better. This time around, Mrs. B graciously offered to sign a non-compete agreement - and I, having been incautious on this point when she was 89, snapped at the deal. Mrs. B belongs in the Guinness Book of World Records on many counts. Signing a non-compete at age 99 merely adds one more."
She was a philanthropist - the performing arts center in Omaha is named for her and she was also a large donor to the Omaha Jewish Community Center. She received honorary degrees from New York University and Creighton University. She died in 1998, at the age of 104.
Your Fort Dodge Jeopardy answer? Who is Rose Blumkin?
In this Messenger Spotlight, borrowing loosely from the format of the popular television series "Jeopardy", we present a listing of individuals like Blumkin who carried their Fort Dodge roots beyond the city limits to fame and fortune. The listing in no way pretends to be all-inclusive. It includes names listed in Wikipedia and others shared by Fort Dodge historian extraordinaire Roger Natte. Good luck!
Category: Business
He held CEO positions at the nation's two largest direct-marketing companies in New York City and then founded his own advertising agency called Hawkeye (although he was an Iowa State graduate), operating it in Dallas. Who is Steve Dapper?
He was a businessman and philanthropist, the founding CEO and chairman of Valero Energy Corp. and NuStar Energy, and the 2001 recipient of the Horatio Alger Award. Who is William Greehey?
He was a newspaper editor with a knack for finding the big story - as the 19-year-old editor of the Fort Dodge Chronicle he had the scoop on the 1901 assassination of President McKinley -- that carried him to success at newspapers in Chicago, New York and Boston and made him the prototype for "The Front Page," a Broadway play and feature movie. Who is Walter Howey?
He was president and chief operating officer of Dayton Hudson (renamed Target Corp. in 2004) in Minneapolis and chairman and CEO of Revco Drug Stores in Cleveland. Who is Boake Sells?
Category: Education
She was an artist, teacher, and nun whose boldly colored prints often highlight the wonder of the everyday as they engage with progressive religious, social, and political themes; an art center in downtown Los Angeles is named for her. Who is Corita Kent?
Category: Entertainment
He is an American actor known for playing Liam Kelly in the NBC drama series "The Village", Jack Trotter in the HBO historical drama series "The Gilded Age", and Burton in the HBO post-apocalyptic drama series "The Last of Us." Who is Ben Ahlers?
He was an American actor and the last actor to play Clarabell the Clown on the "Howdy Doody Show". Who is Lew Anderson?
He was a Hollywood film producer, known as the co-founder of American International Pictures, whose movies included "Beach Party" and "I was a Teenage Werewolf" and is credited with 500 films. Who is Samuel Zachary Arkoff?
She was a French-American actress who was a co-star with Ronald Coleman, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, and William Powell, and married Hollywood star Errol Flynn before later marrying Allen Loomis, a retired dairy product manufacturer from Fort Dodge, in 1962; spent part of each year living in Fort Dodge before her death in 1994, and chose to be laid to rest at Oakland Cemetery. Who is Lili Damita?
He is an actor, director and writer who was a puppeteer in his youth and went on to Hollywood roles including "Ode to Billy Joe" (1976), "Small Town Crime" (2017) and "Final Rinse" (1999). Who is Terence Goodman?
She was an American conceptual artist, feminist, educator, and writer, and contributed extensively to the discourse of feminism and postmodernism through her large-scale narrative installations and theoretical writings. Who is Mary Kelly?
He signed a one-year contract in 1920 to conduct the Fort Dodge Municipal Band that continued, year after year, until his death 51 years later and was a legendary bandmaster, composer and musician who wrote 300 marches (including "Barnum and Bailey's Favorite") and other compositions. Who is Karl King?
He was an American jazz trumpet player, singer, and bandleader who led one of the oldest Omaha-based jazz bands, The Dixie Ramblers, and saw his greatest period of success in the 1920s and 1930s. Who is Frank "Red" Perkins?
She was a movie star, model and athlete, honored as one of Iowa State's first female sports stars and in Hollywood chosen as the most beautiful face in Los Angeles, appearing in movies with James Cagney, Bob Hope and Sonja Henie. Who is Eleanor Prentiss?
Category: History
He was one of the most famous archaeological hoaxes in American history, a purported petrified man at 10-feet-tall and 3,000 pounds, uncovered in 1869, by workers digging a well in Cardiff, New York. The original is in Cooperstown, N.Y., and a copy at the Fort Museum and Frontier Village in Fort Dodge. Who is the Cardiff Giant?
He was a legendary Old West lawman, gunfighter, and one of the historic “Three Guardsmen” alongside Heck Thomas and Chris Madsen in Oklahoma Territory. Who is William “Bill” Tilghman?
Category -- The Law
He served on the Iowa Supreme Court for 21 years, the last eight as chief justice of the court, and was author of the court’s opinion in Varnum v. Brien, which legalized same-sex marriage in Iowa. Who is Mark Cady?
She was a political activist convicted in two separate federal cases for weapons offenses, harboring a fugitive related to the 1981 Brink’s robbery, and a series of bombings including the 1983 U.S. Senate bombing and imprisoned before her sentence was commuted by President Clinton. Who is Linda Sue Evans?
He was a lifelong Fort Dodger, an Army veteran of WWII's Battle of the Bulge, who returned from war to become an attorney, longtime city mayor, district court judge and chief judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals. Who is Albert Habhab?
He was one of Fort Dodge and Webster County's most famous legal figures as the hard-nosed U.S. Attorney who famously prosecuted and successfully convicted Al Capone for tax evasion in 1931. Who is George E.Q. Johnson?
He was a justice on the Iowa Supreme Court from 1972 until 1986 after service as a district court judge and ran in the Democratic primary for governor in 1998. Who is Mark McCormick?
Category: Literature
He was author of the 1946 novel "Mister Roberts", which was made into a Broadway play and a Hollywood film. Who is Thomas Heggen?
Category: Philanthropy
She was a librarian remembered for her support for Japanese-American children during World War II, bringing library services to kids in the Japanese relocation camps at a time when they were forgotten and hurting, and was city librarian for 25 years for the San Diego Public Library. Who is Clara Breed?
Category: Politics and Public Service
He was an early resident of Fort Dodge, served in the Civil War and was governor of Iowa from 1872 to 1876. Who is Cyrus Clay Carpenter?
He was a Republican orator, U.S. representative, then U.S. senator from Iowa at the turn of the 20th century and in the 1900 and 1908 Republican National Conventions was promoted as a vice-presidential candidate, but never chosen. Who is Jonathan P. Dolliver?
He served as the mayor of Berkeley, California, for two terms from 1963 to 1971, as a moderate Republican, during the most politically turbulent time in Berkeley’s history. Who is Wallace J.S. Johnson?
She served California for six years in the U.S. House of Representatives and, after unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and governor of California, recently was appointed to the California Community Colleges board. Who is Katie Porter?
Category: Sports
He was the son of a St. Edmond High School boys' basketball coach, an All-American basketball player at the University of Kansas and played professionally for the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder which retired his No. 4. Who is Nick Collison?
He is a member of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame and was regarded as one of the world’s premier volleyball officials, working the first four Olympics for the sport. Who is Glen Davies?
He was a legendary announcer with the Houston Astros and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Who is Gene Elston?
They are considered the First Family of Iowa boys' basketball with four in the Iowa High School Basketball Hall of Fame - Connie, his son Tom, and Tom's two sons Tommy John and Jay. Who are the Goodmans?
He played football at Fort Dodge Community College, then at the University of Missouri and the University of Tampa, and was the No. 1 pick in the NFL 1973 draft, selected by the Houston Oilers. Who is John Matuszak?
He played football at Iowa where he also was a national champion heavyweight wrestler and was a Canadian Football League player with Winnipeg Blue Bombers when they won the Gray Cup. Who is Sherwyn Thorson?
Bonus category
This NFL quarterback never lived in Fort Dodge, but his mother did and so did his grandparents. Who is Kirk Cousins (son of former Fort Dodger Maryann Cousins and grandson of the late Dr. Ralph Woodward (a football standout at the University of Iowa) and his wife Martha?
This American hotel magnate never lived in Fort Dodge, but his mother Mary was the daughter of Fort Dodge funeral home founder Conrad Laufersweiler and he was named for his grandfather. Who is Conrad Hilton?