Thursday, March 5, 2009

Native Sons

Let's everyone try to name somebody at least somewhat famous who came from Jefferson, or at least Greene County.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Native DAUGHTER....Eva Leonard

Rich said...

George Gallup.

Anonymous said...

C'mon Rich. Everyone knows that one. I'm thinking hard, too.

Anonymous said...

Dick Oatts
www.dickoatts.com

Father Kevin McCoy

Loren Shiver, sorry Paton person

Anonymous said...

Dick Oatts? I don't think so.

There was Nate Teut (from Paton-Churdan) that played a little for the Florida Marlins. Maybe not famous, but I put him above Oatts...and McCoy. Loren Shriver...he's a good pick.

Anonymous said...

I guess Dick Oatts is o iTunes...I take it back. I was wrong, he qualifies...as far Jefferson goes.

Rick Bland said...

This is not an easy assignment. Finding people who were famous nationally from this area is no small task.

Let's not forget Doreen Wilber, who was born in Rutland, but resided in Jefferson while winning gold at the 1972 Munich Olympic archery competitions. Not only did she take home gold, but set a world record at that time.

Mrs. Wiber passed away on October 19, 2008.

Anonymous said...

Samuel Austin Kendall (November 1, 1859 – January 8, 1933) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Samuel A. Kendall was born in Greenville Township, Pennsylvania. He attended the public schools and was a student for some time at Valparaiso, Indiana, and at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. He taught school from 1876 to 1890 and served five years as superintendent of the public schools of Jefferson, Iowa. He returned to Somerset County, Pennsylvania, in 1890 and engaged in the lumber business and the mining of coal. He was vice president of the Kendall Lumber Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and president of the Preston Railroad Co. He served as member of the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives from 1899 to 1903.

Kendall was elected as a Republican to the Sixty-sixth and to the six succeeding Congresses and served until his death. He had been unsuccessful for reelection in 1932, and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the House Office Building in Washington, D.C., before his successor J. Buell Snyder was sworn in. Interment in Hochstetler Cemetery, Greenville Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Charles Clayton Morrison (1874—1966) was an American Disciples of Christ minister and Christian socialist.

Born in Harrison, Ohio, he attended high school in Jefferson, Iowa, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and the University of Chicago. He was a young minister when he purchased the foundering Christian Century magazine in Chicago in 1908.

With donations and gradually increasing subscribership, the magazine survived and prospered under his editorship until his retirement in 1947. He became a well-known spokesman for liberal Christianity. He supported the ecumenical movement, particularly the establishment of the World Council of Churches and the National Council of Churches.

Anonymous said...

Bryce Eric Paup (born February 29, 1968 in Scranton, Iowa) is a former American football defensive end and linebacker who played for the Green Bay Packers (1990–1994), Buffalo Bills (1995–1997), Jacksonville Jaguars (1998–1999), Minnesota Vikings 2000 and 2002. He played collegiately at the University of Northern Iowa and was selected by the Packers in the 6th round of the 1990 NFL Draft.

Paup was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press in 1995 and was a four-time Pro Bowl selection.

On March 19, 2007, Paup was introduced as the head football coach at Green Bay Southwest High School. In his first season on the job, Paup led the Trojans to a 4-5 overall record and a 3-5 record in the Fox River Classic Conference, and narrowly missed the playoffs. He is also on the Packers' Board of Directors.

Prior to accepting the job, Paup was an assistant volunteer football coach for the De Pere High School Redbirds of De Pere, Wisconsin, for three years, working primarily with linemen and linebackers.

SCRANTON NATIVE

Rich said...

John Canady

Specialty: Plastic and reconstructive surgery
Professor: UI Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, joint appointment with Department of Surgery, Plastic Surgery.
Address:
200 Hawkins Dr, 21262 PFP
Iowa City, IA, 52242-1078
Telephone: 319-356-2168
e-mail: john-canady@uiowa.edu

Education and Training:

1980-1983 Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry):, Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa,

1983-1988 MD: University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa

1988 MS: University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa

1983-1984 General surgery internship: LaCrosse Lutheran Hospital, LaCrosse, Wisconsin

1984-1988 Otolaryngology residency: UI Hospitals and Clinics, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

1988-1990 Fellowship, plastic and reconstructive surgery: University of Kansas, Kansas City,

Certification

1988 American Board of Otolaryngology
1992 American Board of Plastic Surgery, Inc
State of Iowa Medical License

Clinical Specialty

Cleft lip and palate repairs

Current Research

Improved skin graft and flap survival
Fetal cleft lip and palate surgery
Growth factor analysis in wound healing
Physiology and movement mechanics of the soft palate
Mechanisms of scar formation and regulation
Wound healing in both post natal and fetal models, and particularly how modified mechanisms of wound healing can be applied to craniofacial surgery

Anonymous said...

Mark Rasmussen was just added to the famous list

Anonymous said...

When it comes to dating, I would stay away from www.escorts.com and focus on eHarmony or Match.com. My wife thinks I should take her out on a date. I'm a little low on cash right now, so I hope she'll take a check.

Laura in Carroll said...

How about Loren Shriver? He was born in Jefferson .

Shriver’s accomplishments have earned him many notable awards. He has received the United States Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, the NASA Space Flight Medal (three times), the American Astronautical Society 1990 Flight Achievement Award, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Haley Space Flight Award for 1990.

Shriver is married to the former Susan Diane Hane of Paton, Iowa. He has three daughters: Camilla, Melinda, and Rebecca, and one son: Jered. The Shrivers reside in Titusville, Florida.

Anonymous said...

Mike Mumma
Board Member of the Iowa Golf Association

Anonymous said...

Jim Doran's career would be hard to duplicate today, in fact a virtual impossibility, when you consider that he began with the huge handicap of not playing high school football.

His first exposure to the sport was at Buena Vista College in the fall of 1947, on the "B" team no less, and he recalls playing in one losing game where the score mounted to something like 52-0.

It might have been a depressing start, but as you will see, Doran was eager and not easily discouraged.

By 1949 he was an all-conference end at Iowa State.

By 1950 he was an all-American, setting one pass-catching record against Oklahoma that still stands for the Cyclones.

And by 1952 he was voted the most valuable player on a Detroit Lion team that won the National Football League championship.

It was an unusual rise to gridiron success, with several strange twists along the way, and today Doran adds another honor, joining The Des Moines Sunday Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame.

This select group now lists just 74 names since its inception in 1951. To be eligible an athlete must have been born in Iowa or gained prominence while competing for a college team within the state.

"There was a good reason why I didn't play any high school football," explains Doran, who grew up in the small Boone County town of Beaver in central Iowa.

"We only had 11 boys in the whole school and just four in my class. I played basketball and baseball in high school, then competed in football and track in college."

JIM LEARNED one secret early -- to make himself noticed by his coaches -- and it was to work for him both in college and the pros, giving him chances to play that he might not otherwise have received.

He had gone to Buena Vista after a short stint in the navy during World War II, playing tackle despite being a relative lightweight at 175 pounds, then transferred to Iowa State in 1947.

"I was still considered a freshman and when I went out for football there were about 100 other guys on the squad. It's pretty easy to get lost in the shuffle -- especially if you haven't played much.

"The hard part was getting the coaches to look at you. I had good speed and won the wind sprints, or they might not ever have taken a look at me."

They saw plenty of what they liked the following year, because Jim teamed with an outstanding young quarterback named Bill Weeks to roll up the passing yards -- although still at the "B" team level.

"The best game we had that season was against Mason City Junior College," said Doran. "We completed eight passes for 365 yards and I caught five of them for 260 yards."

WITH THIS as the backdrop, when the fall of 1949 arrived, big things began to happen for the Cyclones -- and Doran.

After an opening 64-0 romp over Dubuque came an unexpected 20-20 tie with Illinois, followed by consecutive victories over Kansas, Colorado and Kansas State, with the Weeks-Doran combination suddenly hitting the headlines.

Iowa State went on to post a 5-3-1 record, the school's only winning football season in a span of 14 years, and Doran was picked for the all-conference team ("I'm sure I surprised a lot of people in the process," he says).

Oklahoma completely dominated the old Big Seven Conference in those days, and beat Iowa State the next year, 34-7, but Doran set a National Collegiate record that day by catching eight passes for 203 yards.

This is the mark that remains unbroken in the Iowa State record book.

It helped Jim catapult onto the 1950 all-America team chosen by the International News Service. He was Iowa State's only football all-American in two decades, and more recently he was voted to the modern all-Big Eight team.

But most of Doran's more memorable exploits were saved for the pros.

ODDLY, HE became a starter with the 1951 Lions not as a pass receiver but at defensive end -- in another case of making himself noticed.

"It was during defensive drills that I made a couple of big plays against Bob Hoernschemeyer, one of Detroit's veteran running backs," recalled Doran.

"The veterans were smart. They'd wait until they had to run against a rookie instead of another veteran. Well, that's what Hoernschemeyer did and I flattened him.

"He wasn't expecting that. So the next time it came my turn to be the tackler, he tapped one of the rookie backs on the shoulder and stepped in so he could run against me.

"The guys were kidding him about I'd done, and everybody on the field figured he was going to show me what pro football was all about.

"But that time I hit him just right -- knocking him and the quarterback both down."

It wasn't long before Detroit Coach Buddy Parker had installed the newcomer from Iowa State into his starting defensive lineup. Sometimes he went both ways, splitting the duty with Leon Hart, the former Notre Dame star.

THE LIONS won three NFL championships in the next few years -- 1952, '53 and '57 -- and you will recognize many of the stars who led the way, players like Bobby Layne, Mel Harder, Doak Walker, Jim Martin and Hopalong Cassady.

But it was Jim Doran of Beaver, Ia., who was named the best of all in 1952. Here's how that came about.

"Pat Summerall, who has made quite a name for himself on TV in recent years, was the starter at one defensive end but he broke his arm in the opening game against the Rams," said Doran.

"The minute he broke his arm I was back on defense for the rest of the season.

"I used to get to the passer a lotand that year was the closest I ever got to making all-pro.

"I was named the most valuable player in a vote of the squad -- one of the biggest honors I ever received."

IT TOOK some courage to play defense, too, especially against the likes of Los Angeles.

"But we beat them three times that year, twice in the regular season and then again in a playoff for the division championship after we'd tied with 10-2 records," Jim recalls.

Doran and the Lions were involved in four NFL title games, all against Cleveland. And the biggest play of his pro career occurred in the '53 showdown.

Jim snared a 33-yard pass for the touchdown that pulled out a 17-16 victory. ON the decisive march Doran caught three passes for 68 of the 80 yards.

The next year Cleveland turned the tables -- but good -- in a 56-10 championship rout of Detroit. But Jim hastens to point out. "We got revenge in 1957 by beating the Browns for the title, 59-14."

DORAN, NOW 46, was to leave Detroit in the 1960 expansion draft, going to the Dallas Cowboys, where he led the team in pass receiving and was chosen to play in the Pro Bowl.

He also served as player-coach with Dallas, and later joined his old Detroit coach, Buddy Parker, as an assistant at Pittsburgh in 1964 and '65.

It was there that he met his wife, the former Ellen Gibson. They have three sons.

Doran's mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Doran, lives in Boone. He and his family reside in Paton, northwest of Boone, and Jim and his brother, Tom, farm 1,500 acres in a partnership.

Anonymous said...

David Yepsen

landmine said...

Mark Rassmussen. Now that was a funny comment!!!!!! Gues he should stick to porn behind closed doors!!

Anonymous said...

Everybody makes mistakes in life. When one lives in a small town like Jefferson, and particularly Jefferson, one will pay for those mistakes every day for the rest of their lives assuming they choose to live out the rest of their life in Jefferson.

"Forgive and forget" is not the town motto of Jefferson. Most of the townsfolk will snicker every time some fallen citizen's name is brought up. It won't matter if it's a law enforcement issue, a divorce, or something not their fault, say a medical problem or just the fact they may have grown up poor, too many people in Jefferson take delight in the follies and foibles and perceived weaknesses of others. It makes them feel superior to the lesser folks.

You only have one life to live. For the sinners of Jefferson, your best bet is to move away and start your life anew anywhere else. Leave the pharisees of Jefferson behind. They'll eventually cannibalize each other.

Anonymous said...

Great story about Jim Doran. Who wrote it?

Anonymous said...

George Gallup was quoted in national media more than any other pollster.

David Yepsen will be back in Iowa within two years. You read it here first.

Anonymous said...

I nominate Brent Goughnour because he grows good crops and has given 100% to Greene Co. His children have also tried to help the county out. Besides he drives a cool Gold Wing. Maybe you ought to give the award to someone that hasn't left!!

Anonymous said...

Earl Lane, renowned bicyclist and Tour de Jefferson Yellow Jersey winner, 1977, 1978.