Charles Morrell Jordan (October 21, 1927 – December 9, 2010) was an American automotive designer, born in Whittier, California.Jordan is widely known for his work on the 1959-1960 Cadillac Eldorado and the 1992 Cadillac Seville STS — and his role as vice president of design for General Motors from 1986 to 1992.
Daniel J. Terra (June 8, 1911 – June 28, 1996) was a scientist, businessman, and art collector. A first-generation Italian-American, Terra earned a chemical engineering degree from Pennsylvania State University in 1931, and founded Lawter Chemicals in Chicago in 1940. The success of his global enterprise enabled him to pursue his cultural interests, assembling an art collection and participating in several Chicago arts institutions.
Russell Wayne Kruse (December 9, 1922 – May 4, 2007) was an American auctioneer best known for building the business of auctioning classic cars through Kruse International.Born in Auburn, Indiana, he took up farming after graduating from high school. After losing crops to flooding two years in a row, he took up auctioneering to cover the costs of raising his seven children. He attended the Reppert School of Auctioneering in December 1952 and started a local real estate and farm auction business. He was a licensed auctioneer, real estate broker and certified residential appraiser in the state of Indiana.In 1971, the Auburn Chamber of Commerce needed fundraising for their annual classic-car show. Kruse suggested auctioning off some of the antique cars. When a bidder's $61,000 bid for a locally-made Duesenberg was turned down, the press picked up the story, and his fame as a car auctioneer took off. He started the Kruse Auction Institute in 1972 to give pre-licensing training to auctioneers. Russell was on the original Indiana Board of Auctioneers and served as chairman. He was also a past president of the Indiana Auctioneer's Association, and a member of their hall of fame, along with two of his son's - Dean Kruse and Dennis Kruse.
Because of the lucrative divisions that auctioned real estate and oil field equipment, ITT bought Kruse International in 1981, but the family bought it back in 1987. eBay then bought the company in 1999 but sold it back in 2003. Three of his sons are involved in the auction business: Dean Kruse, Dennis Kruse and Daniel Kruse, as well as eight grandchildren. He founded the Kruse Auction Institute in 1972, and served as an instructor at the Reppert School of Auctioneering from 1996 until his death in 2007.
His first wife, Luella (Boger), the mother of his seven children, died in 2000. Kruse died in Fort Wayne, Indiana of a stroke, aged 84.
Lonnie Alfred "Bo" Pilgrim (May 8, 1928 – July 21, 2017) was the co-founder of Pilgrim's Pride, which at one time was one of the largest chicken producers in the United States. Pilgrim founded Pilgrim's Pride when he opened a feed store in 1946 in Pittsburg, Texas, with his older brother, Aubrey. He became the CEO of the company upon the death of his brother Aubrey in 1966, eventually amassing a net worth of $1 billion US.In 1989, when the Texas Senate was debating a bill to make major changes to the state workers' compensation system, Pilgrim handed out $10,000 US checks to nine of the 31 state senators while on the Senate floor two days before the vote. Pilgrim was not a supporter of the bill, and defended his actions by saying the checks were campaign contributions, not an attempt at bribery. The episode led to changes in the state's ethics laws.In addition to his holdings in Pilgrim's Pride, Pilgrim was also a principal shareholder of NETEX Bancorporation, a bank holding company which operated Pilgrim Bank, a bank with branches in Pittsburg and nearby Mount Pleasant.Pilgrim was also a noted philanthropist, giving money to many different charities and community organizations, including Dallas Baptist University to build the Pilgrim Chapel as well as the Patty and Bo Pilgrim Cancer Center in Mount Pleasant.Pilgrim gave the maximum amount allowed by law to Jeb Bush's 2016 Presidential Campaign. He was a frequent contributor to conservative politicians. For several consecutive years he would donate $25,000 to the NRCC.
Pilgrim died on July 21, 2017, in Pittsburg, Texas. He was 89 years old.
Malcolm Stamper (April 4, 1925 – June 14, 2005) was the longest serving president in Boeing's history and was best known for leading 50,000 people in the race to build the 747 jetliner.
Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Stamper joined Boeing in 1962 after working for General Motors.
His first assignment at Boeing was to sell its ailing gas turbine division to Caterpillar. Following this success, Boeing president William M. Allen asked Stamper to spearhead production of the new 747 airplane on which the company's future depended. This was a monumental engineering and management challenge, which involved the construction of the world's biggest factory in which to build the 747 at Everett, Washington, a plant which spanned the size of roughly 53 acres.
In 1978, Stamper was one of only a dozen U.S. corporate executives to earn over a million dollars.He served as president of the company and a member of the board of directors from 1972 until 1985, when he became vice chairman of the board. During the 1969-70 recession, Stamper presided over the layoff of nearly two-thirds of its 101,000 employees. By the late 1970s, however, the 747 was a huge success. By the time Stamper retired in 1990, Boeing seemed to face no serious threat from McDonnell Douglas or from European competitor Airbus. He predicted that the company would remain the leader in the field for the foreseeable future.
Stamper also served on boards at Nordstrom, Chrysler, Whittaker Corporation, Travelers Insurance, Pro Air, the Seattle Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. After retiring from Boeing, he started a children's book publishing company.
Stamper was the grandfather of Jay Stamper, an entrepreneur and unsuccessful nominee for the U.S. Senate in the 2014 South Carolina Democratic Party primary.
Jack Schwartzman (July 22, 1932 – June 15, 1994) was an American film producer.
Robert Schantz Oelman (June 9, 1909 – May 10, 2007) was an American executive who served as president of NCR Corporation for 17 years as they switched to electronic cash registers.
Oelman graduated from Dartmouth College in 1931, before attending University of Vienna, where he met his wife Mary Coolidge. He joined the National Cash Register Company in 1933 as a file clerk, became president in 1957, and later chairman and chief executive. Oelman retired from NCR in 1974 but remained on in an advisory capacity until 1980.
He was also a founder of Wright State University in 1967.
In 1968, Oelman became Ohio Republican chairman for the unsuccessful presidential campaign of Nelson Rockefeller, a fellow Dartmouth College alumnus.
Oelman also served as chairman of the finance committee of Ford Motor Company, and in 1978 was asked by Henry Ford II to try resolve a conflict with president of the company Lee Iacocca. This was never achieved and Iacocca went on to become president of Chrysler.
Oelman died in Delray Beach, Florida.
Carl Llewellyn Weschcke (September 10, 1930 – November 7, 2015) was an American publisher and the president/owner of Llewellyn Worldwide (formerly Llewellyn Publications) from 1961 until his death. He received nationwide media attention when he bought the supposedly haunted Summit Avenue Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1964, and claimed to have "numerous odd experiences" there.
Born in St. Paul, Weschke bought Llewellyn Publications in early 1961 when he was president of Chester-Kent, Inc. In 1970, Weschcke opened the Gnostica Bookstore in Minneapolis, as well as the "Gnostica School for Self-Development", based on Gnostic teachings. He also began the Gnostic Aquarian Festivals in Minneapolis, also known as Gnosticon during the 1970s, which helped fuel the rise in awareness of occult and metaphysical teachings.
Weschcke was elected president of the NAACP's Minnesota branch in 1959 and vice president of the ACLU's Minnesota branch in 1965.