- Jay B. Dillingham
Jay B. Dillingham (March 8, 1910 - August 13, 2007) was a former president of the
Kansas City Stockyards as well as former president of theChamber of Commerce for bothKansas City, Missouri andKansas City, Kansas .Dillingham was born in
Platte City, Missouri . His grandfather was the only sheriff ofPlatte County, Missouri ever to be killed (in 1900) while on duty.He received a law degree from the
University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1935. [ [http://kansascity.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2007/03/12/editorial2.html?t=printable Dillingham is a time-tested treasure of our community - Kansas City Business Journal - March 9, 2007] ]He married Frances Thompson, a daughter of a founder of the American Royal, in 1935. On their first date they went to a horse show.
He joined the stockyard in 1937 and was president of the stockyards from 1948 until 1975. During his tenure he started the Golden Ox Restaurant in the stockyards the
Livestock Exchange Building which developed fame for the Kansas Citystrip steak . He also dealt with theGreat Flood of 1951 that destroyed the stockyards from which it never fully recovered. He once said about the stockyards::There’s nothing around here I haven’t done...from shoveling manure to cleaning the sewers. [ [http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/231031.html Civic leader Jay Dillingham dies at age 97] ]
Following the flood he was instrumental in locating what would become
Kansas City International Airport to his native Platte County to replace theFairfax Airport which had been damaged in the flood. He worked the Kansas City office of theUnited States Army Corps of Engineers to build a series of reservoirs in Missouri and Kansas includingSmithville Lake Dillingham donated stockyards land to the
American Royal and forKemper Arena .Interstate 670 in Kansas and Missouri is named for him.
References
External links
* [http://www.umkc.edu/aboutumkc/famousgraduates.asp UMKC biography]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.