On the northwest corner of Eighth Street and Broadway, on the second floor, was the Rosenthal School of Commerce. If my memory is correct, the owner/teacher was a businesslike woman who was of somewhat large stature with red hair. She conducted a fine school for mainly female students just graduating from high school and trained them to be good secretaries for the lawyers, doctors and businesspeople located in the many buildings downtown. (Footnote: My friend Earl Proctor verified my description of Mrs. Rosenthal.)

Small grocery stores were all over town. The block of Eighth north of Broadway had Poole and Creber and Temple Stephens Grocery. Temple Stephens was a great horseman and owner of fine saddle horses. He won many ribbons in horse shows all over Missouri. I remember one gray mare and her great success.

At 8 N. Eighth was the New York Store, a moderate price department store later managed by my good friend Dan Wilkerson, who was a member in the Noon Lions Club. The Missouri Bookstore had a downtown location at 12 N. Eighth St. The main store was on campus at 909 Lowry St. Boone Theater was at 15 N. Eighth, and Boone County Abstract Co. was at 18 N. Eighth.

A continuing downtown landmark, the Guitar Building housed Conley-Myers Insurance Agency on the main floor and is still located on the main floor at 28 N. Eighth today. Members of the Conley family have been leaders in Columbia for many years. They go back generations, beginning in the 1800s with John C. Conley and later with Robert M. Conley.

In the basement of the Guitar Building was Kelly Print Shop, first operated by Glenn Kelly, who later was a good friend. In 1939 he was joined by his brother James and in 1949 by their brother Sherman. (Footnote: it was a pleasure to visit with Sherman while attending a funeral of our dear friend George Tallen).

Boone County Savings and Loan was also in the Guitar Building and later moved to the old Haden Building at Ninth Street and Broadway. It was recently sold to Commerce Bank.

George Hollis was a lawyer in the Guitar Building during the 1930s, and a few years later, while on vacation with his wife, Freda, in Colorado on a fishing trip, they both drowned in a boating accident. Two daughters, Barbara and Rita, were on the trip but were not in the boat. A friend, Cotton Woods, flew to Colorado and returned the daughters to Columbia. I remember it was one of the largest funerals I have ever attended. That was because of their leadership and standing in our community. Barbara still resides in Columbia. (Nancy Badger, Cotton Woods’ daughter, assisted in my writing.)

A. R. Troxell was a lawyer from whom I later purchased a lot in the Troxell subdivision in 1963. Two law firms were prominent in the 1930s: Clark, Boggs, Peterson, Becker and Lang; and Harris, Price and Alexander. Lang became prosecuting attorney, mayor of Columbia and a vice president in MFA Insurance Co. during his lifetime. Lakeman Price was the father of Al Price, a past president of the Boone County Bank. Ralph Alexander became my partner in later years in real estate and Suzanne’s.

A few other lawyers in the Guitar Building were George Spencer, John Cave, William Nelson and William Sapp. Spencer was a leader in the community working with farm organizations and served as state president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1933-34. Cave later became a great circuit judge for many years.

Physicians in the Guitar Building included Frank Dexheimer and Carl Dietrich, who operated on my appendix in the fall of 1939 (mentioned in my Feb. 4 article.) Dietrich was also my doctor earlier in my college career, when I had a double hernia.

David LeMone was a fine doctor who passed away at a young age, leaving behind his lovely wife, Margaret, a nurse and a friend of mine. Together, they had raised three fine sons, Jacques, Charles and Bob, and a daughter, Margaret Ann.

The youngest son, Bob, grew up with my sons, went to work for Little Dixie Construction in the 1960s and purchased the company in 1979. Under his leadership, Little Dixie developed industrial parks in Columbia, among its other many projects. Bob has been a friend for nearly 40 years, and just last year he personally responded immediately to my call for help to prevent a disaster in the making during the remodeling of the Booth Building.

Hugh Stevenson, a dentist, became a very good friend after I returned from the war in 1946. We were members of the Noon Lions Club, and many days after the meetings were over we would sit and visit. What a delightful man. Many of you know his son, Hugh Stevenson Jr. He and I both played Looper League Softball on the Junior Chamber of Commerce Team until the middle 1950s. Hugh Jr. had a very rewarding life in his many contributions regarding heart problems, and his dedication to the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine is well documented. Columbia can be proud of his service.

Advertisement