William
N. Deramus III was chairman of Kansas City Southern Industries
Inc. and a man considered a giant in the railroad industry and
the civic community. Deramus took over as head of Kansas City
Southern in 1961. “He was one of our finest,” said Donald J.
Hall, chairman of Hallmark Cards Inc. Hall said he worked with
Deramus on civic activities throughout the years. “He was a
very generous soul and an important Kansas Citian.”
Deramus,
whose father joined Kansas City Southern in 1909 as
telegrapher in Pittsburg, Kansas, began his railroad career in
1939 on the Wabash Railroad after receiving a law degree from
Harvard University. Deramus was an undergraduate at the
University of Michigan and Kansas City Junior College. In
1949 at age 33, he became the youngest railroad chief when he
was named president of the old Chicago, Great Western Railway.
“Railroading is tough, seven-day-a-week business,” Deramus
said at the time of his appointment. Deramus was credited with
building up the struggling railroad, and Chicago, Great
Western reported a record profit of $3.4 million in 1956. The
next year, Deramus took over another line with financial
troubles, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. The railroad,
better known as the Katy, rebounded during Deramus’ four years
of leadership. In 1961, Deramus was elected president of the
Kansas City Southern Railway Co. and its subsidiary, Louisiana
& Arkansas Railway Co. Deramus succeeded his father, William
N. Deramus.
The
younger Deramus, who worked for two years at Kansas City
Southern after a stint in the Army, became the railroad’s top
officer at a time when the company was preparing to expand and
diversify. Deramus established Kansas City Southern Industries
as a holding company in the early 1960s. It was one of the
first of its kind in the railroad industry, and it expanded
into fields such as life insurance, real estate, broadcasting
and data processing. Though not all of the ventures have been
successful, Kansas City Southern had consistently been
profitable during Deramus’ tenure.
Deramus,
who headed Kansas City Southern during its era of expansion
and diversification, also was active in Kansas City civic
affairs. In 1979, he was named Man of the Year by the Missouri
Chamber of Commerce. Much of his civic involvement centered on
the Kansas City Zoo and the Swope Ridge Health Care Center. He
was a director and former chairman of Friends of the Zoo, a
support group and was chairman of the health center’s board.
“He was
unique,” said Paul H. Henson, chairman of United
Telecommunications Inc. “He had strong opinions… He had a
tough exterior, but a soft heart.” Landon H. Rowland, Kansas
City Southern’s president and chief executive officer said one
of Deramus’ strongest attributes was in bringing out the
potential of the people around him. “He pushed people to
realize their talents,” Rowland said.
Among
those who have worked under Deramus were Thomas McDonnell,
president and chief executive officer of DST Systems Inc., a
company mostly owned by Kansas City Southern, and Irvine O.
Hockaday Jr., president and chief executive officer of
Hallmark Cards, who had been chief executive officer at Kansas
City Southern. “He was a guide and mentor to many,” Hockaday
said. Hockaday said he first met Deramus in the early 1960’s
when Hockaday, then a young lawyer, had been asked to help
establish a repertory theater in Kansas City. He called civic
leaders, including Deramus, and a group went to Minneapolis to
see a play.
“Bill
sat through about as much as he could but he left before the
production was finished” Hockaday said. He assumed Deramus
wouldn’t be a big backer. Later, after Hockaday had made a
pitch for money for the theater, Deramus was first to stand
Hockaday said. “He said he would pledge $25,000 to the effort,
which was a lot of money in those days, and then walked out,”
he said. That money got the effort going, Hockaday said.
Later, Deramus suggested that Hockaday work for Kansas City
Southern. Hockaday said he wrestled with the notion and asked
philosophical questions. Deramus finally said, “Don’t worry
about it. Just do it.”
Among
Deramus’ civic interests over the years, they have been
varied, including his involvement with the zoo and the revival
of the Folly Theater. Deramus had been a director of Friends
of the Zoo since 1981, and he served two years as chairman of
the support group. He was known for advocating the creation
of a non-profit organization to manage the zoo.
Deramus
also served as chairman of the board of the Performing Arts
Foundation, which spearheaded the restoration of the Folly
Theater. Among the boards which he served: the Kansas City Art
Institute, Midwest Research Institute, the Kansas City Crime
Commission, the American Royal Board of Governors and the
University of Missouri-Kansas City.
John
Latshaw, a Kansas City securities executive, was a close
friend of Deramus. “He was the best,” Latshaw said. “There was
none the better and finer. Everyone will miss him – the city,
everyone.”
Kansas
City Southern’s success came during a period of major changes
in the railroad industry, which saw big lines being forced out
of business. Financial analysts recall Deramus’ having a
“hands-on” management style.” At the same time, analysts said,
Deramus always seemed to surround himself with talented
people. Among railroad executives, the name Deramus was a
legend.
“He
has long been recognized as a leader in the industry,” said
Jim Johnson, spokesman in Kansas City for the Southern Pacific
Railroad. “He was kind of an inner circle of veteran railroad
managers.” Johnson and others praised Deramus for skillfully
nurturing Kansas City Southern, even though many such small
railroad companies folded amid heated competition in recent
years.
