Rufus Crosby Kemper Jr. (February 22, 1927 – January 2, 2014) was an American banker and philanthropist.

Career

Kemper was born into an influential banking and railroading family in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. His father was Rufus Crosby Kemper Sr. He attended Southwest High School in Kansas City, then transferred to

Phillips Academy Phillips Academy (also known as PA, Phillips Academy Andover, or simply Andover) is a Private school, private, Mixed-sex education, co-educational college-preparatory school for Boarding school, boarding and Day school, day students located in ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...

, where he graduated in 1945. After returning from service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Mr. Kemper enrolled in the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

and became a member of the

Zeta Phi The Zeta Phi Society () was a regional American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity founded in 1870 at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. It was the first independent fraternity to be established west of the Mississippi Riv ...

chapter of

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, , it consist ...

. In 1950, Kemper went to work for the United Missouri Bank, which later became

UMB Financial Corporation UMB Financial Corporation is an American financial services company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It offers comprehensive financial services, including deposit solutions like checking and savings accounts, credit services including hom ...

. He later became president in 1959. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1962 on the Republican ticket and in the same year chaired the Kansas City Industrial Committee. He was active in the running of the

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in 1994 in Kansas City, Missouri. With a $5 million annual budget and approximately 75,000 visitors each year, it is Missouri's first and largest contemporary museum. Founders The core of the museum's per ...

, which was named for him. He retired as chairman of UMB in 2004.

Personal life

Kemper died at age 86 on January 2, 2014, at Indian Wells, California. He had seven children with wives Cynthia Warrick Kemper and Mary "Bebe" Stripp Kemper, including Crosby Kemper III and Mariner Kemper. On June 18, 1965, Kemper and his wife Mary Kemper adopted son Sandy Kemper in

Chicago Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. Kemper was a first cousin, twice removed, of actress

Ellie Kemper Elizabeth Claire Kemper (born May 2, 1980) is an American actress, best known for her roles of Erin Hannon in the sitcom ''The Office'' (2009–2013) and Kimmy Schmidt in the sitcom '' Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt'' (2015–2019). She has also app ...

References

External links

University of Missouri biographyKansas City Business Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kemper, R. Crosby Jr. American art collectors Museum founders American philanthropists 1927 births 2014 deaths R. Crosby Jr American bank presidents Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri University of Missouri alumni Missouri Republicans 20th-century American businesspeople