Ewing kauffman biography

Milestones and pivotal moments from Ewing Kauffman’s birth to his release from active military duty.

Ewing Marion Kauffman is born to John Samuel Kauffman and Effie Mae Winders Kauffman on Thursday, September 21, 1916, on the family farm in western Missouri about a mile southeast of Garden City.

Shortly after Ewing’s birth, the Kauffman family moves to a 480-acre farm in Creighton, Missouri. Ewing and his older sister, Erma Ruth Kauffman, start school in Creighton. As a first grader, Ewing excels in a class that includes second and third graders. He wins an elementary school spell-down and his teacher presents him with a copy of The Little Lame Prince. At the end of his first school year Ewing is promoted to the third grade. On Saturday nights the Kauffmans invite friends and neighbors over and Ewing stands at his father’s shoulder watching hands of pinochle play out around the kitchen table.

The Kauffman family farm suffers a series of setbacks in Creighton. Ewing’s father has an accident when loading cattle into a railroad car bound for Kansas City. The accident costs John Kauffman his right eye. After rain soaks the area and floods ruin crops three years in a row, the family decides to move to Kansas City. They settle into a large house at 3828 Harrison where they can take in boarders to supplement the family income. Ewing attends Faxon Elementary School at 3710 Paseo Boulevard. He hones his legendary sales pitch selling fish and eggs delivered to him from his aunt’s farm to residents in his Kansas City neighborhood. He plays outfield in sandlot baseball games, learns to swim at the Jewish Community Center pool, and he and his dog Larry are inseparable. Ewing calls Kansas City home for the rest of his life.

Books spark Ewing’s imagination, feed his curiosity and launch a life of reading.

At age 11 Ewing is diagnosed with a heart condition now known as endocarditis, an inflammation of the inner lining of the heart that causes

American pharmaceutical entrepreneur (1916–1993)

Ewing Marion Kauffman (September 21, 1916 – August 1, 1993) was an American pharmaceutical entrepreneur, philanthropist, and Major League Baseball owner.

Early life and education

Ewing Kauffman was born on September 21, 1916, on a farm near Garden City, Missouri. He was the son of John S. Kauffman and Effie May Winders, who were German-Americans. When Kauffman was a child, his father was in a farming accident which left him blind in his right eye. Following the accident, his father relocated the family to Kansas City, where he worked as a life insurance salesman.

As a child, Kauffman loved reading. When he was 11, he had to leave school for a year, due to a heart valve that would not close completely. During this year, Kauffman taught himself how to speed read. It was not uncommon for him to read one to two books a day. In later years, Kauffman believes his success in the pharmaceutical business stemmed from his ability to read quickly. In 1928, when Kauffman was 12, his parents divorced. He lived with his mother, and his father remained active in his life. On days spent with his father, it was not uncommon for the two to compete in arithmetic competitions, the most common game being adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing the numbers on license plates.

Kauffman was an active youth who participated in various sports, and performed very well in school. He was also an Eagle Scout and later, in adulthood, was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award.

Kauffman graduated from Kansas City's Westport High School in 1934 and later attended Kansas City Junior College, He received his associate degree in Business Management.

Career

Military

In 1942, Kauffman joined the military and served in the U.S. Navy as a signalman. He served in bo

Ewing Kauffman's life took him on an unconventional path that allowed him to enrich the lives of others along the way. #BeUncommon

Each year, around the anniversary of our founder’s birth, we take time to reflect on his continuing legacy. The story of Ewing Kauffman’s life and times can be told in chapters marked by modest beginnings, the creation and growth of Marion Laboratories, and the establishment of the Kansas City Royals baseball team. Above all, it is the story of social awareness that was grounded in his belief in people and guided a new style of philanthropy that sought to invest in uncommon approaches to address the root causes of complex social problems.

We recall the chapters of Ewing Marion Kauffman’s story to inspire others to write an uncommon legacy of their own.

Ewing | 1916 to 1945

Ewing Kauffman was born September 21, 1916. After the family farm suffered a series of setbacks, the Kauffmans moved to Kansas City. He was a good student whose life was filled with books and the Boy Scouts. From his early years to his service in the military, he never stopped learning and wasn’t afraid to take a risk. To his family and friends in the neighborhood, he was Ewing.

Marion | 1946 to 1967

Before there were statues and stadiums, there was a startup in a basement. Ewing Kauffman set out on his entrepreneurial journey when he was 33 years old, and he never looked back. He was a quick study with an outgoing personality and a mischievous sense of humor. He worked hard and held to his principles. With a fiercely loyal and incredibly productive team of associates, he built the company, culture, and spirit of Marion.

Kauffman | 1968 to 1993

Throughout his life, Mr. Kauffman took an unconventional approach. He stepped up to the plate to bring baseball back to Kansas City and when others wouldn’t give kids a chance, Mr. K gave them a choice. He launched his philanthropic foundation devoted to find

Here lies Ewing Kauffman, who founded the Kansas City Royals and guided the team for more than 20 years. The Missouri farmboy made his fortune in the pharmaceutical business and gave back to his Kansas City home, not only with a world champion baseball team but also with a philanthropic foundation that continues to operate today.

Ewing Kauffman was born on September 21, 1916, on a farm near Garden City, Mo., which is about 80 miles south of Kansas City. The family moved to Kansas City when he was young after heavy rains ruined three years worth of crops and an accident cost his father, John Kauffman, his right eye.

Kauffman played baseball on Kansas City sandlots until a heart condition forced him into a year of bed rest when he was 11. With nothing to do but read, Kauffman went through dozens of books a month. That year’s rest helped pave his way to becoming one of the sharpest minds on the business world. He attended Westport High School in Kansas City and then Kansas City Junior College, earning a degree in business management. He used his math skills in a practical way while serving in the Navy in World War II. He turned into a poker whiz and exited the Navy with about $46,000, which would help launch his business career.

Kauffman took a job in Kansas City as a salesman for a pharmaceutical company after returning from the War. He worked without a set salary, basing all of his income on sales commissions. He became so successful that those commissions ended giving him a higher income than the company’s president. That didn’t set well with the president, and his compensation was “restructured,” which caused him to set off on his own. In 1950, he launched his own company called Marion Laboratories out of his house — Marion being his middle name.

According to the biography on his foundation’s website (Ewing & Marion Kauffman Foundation), he bought pills in bulk from a St. Louis company and