The Uhlmanns: serving up cereal and success

The next cold, wintry morning you make yourself a steaming bowl of Wheatena, Maypo, or Maltex cereal, you'll know that two Dartmouth brothers are the people behind that hearty breakfast. R.H. "Pat" Uhlmann, class of 1937, and Paul Uhlmann Jr., class of 1942, head up the family-run Uhlmann Company, a relatively small company that has found a successful niche in the world of grain and cereal producers. They and the company were featured in the July 7 issue of the Kansas City Journal, not only for their business acumen, but also because they are colorful and respected participants in many Kansas City, Mo., community organizations.

The Uhlmann Company has been a family oriented business from the start. It was founded in 1920 by their father, Paul Uhlmann Sr., who had come to Kansas City as a representative of a Chicago grain company. The Uhlmann Company grew to become one of the nation's largest grain brokerage companies and an established part of the grain elevator and export business in Kansas City, Texas, and Oklahoma. Their coveted niche in the cereal market is selling wholesome, high-fiber hot cereals in the nation's colder regions and retirement areas and marketing unbleached flour to a health-conscious consumer public. Through much of this growth Pat was chairman of the board and Paul was president. Now that Pat is easing into retirement as chairman of the executive committee, Paul has become chairman of the board, and the next generation of Uhlmanns, including Pat's son, John '64, and Paul's son, Paul III, are moving into key positions in the company. Pat philosophizes that they could have chosen to build the company into an even larger firm, but that its present scope well serves the needs of their family. The family members involved in the firm share in company decision-making and work well together. They make a point of eating lunch together almost every day, a simple measure that ritualizes their sense of shared purpose. Now that Pat is semiretired, he indulges in one of his hobbies, cooking, by preparing gourmet lunches for the group every Wednesday.

The brothers followed similar directions in college. Paul came to Dartmouth because of the enthusiastic response to the College that Pat had. Both majored in history and were members of Pi Lamda Phi. And both returned to Kansas City to take up the family business.

But there the similarity ends. Their personalities have led them in different directions in their civic activities. "If ever there were renaissance men, it would be the Uhlmanns," Joseph Geisel, president of Geisel Grain Company, told the Journal's Bonar Menninger. "Their interests are universal, and the scope of their knowledge is amazing." Paul, the more reserved, is chairman of the Advisory Council of Planned Parenthood of Kansas City, was the first president of the New Reform Temple, and is on the board of Menorah Medical Center. Pat was founding president of Friends of the Zoo, has served on the boards of Children's Hospital and Centerre Bank, has been a key fund-raiser on the business council of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, and has been a regent at Rockhurst College. Perhaps Pat is best known in Kansas City, however, for his weekly four-minute radio commentary on KCUR-FM. After he opined to the station that it was one-sided, the station asked him to air his own conservative views on various topics, which he does with the wit and ebullience of a seasoned raconteur.

Many in the Uhlmann family have a Dartmouth connection. Pat met his future wife, Helen Weil, then a student at Wellesley, during undergraduate days. Helen had several connections to Dartmouth: two brothers, Adolph '36 and Robert '40, and two Dartmouth cousins, Louis Oberdorfer '39 and Richard Weil '39. Pat and Helen have two Dartmouth sons, John '66 and Robert '71, and they have a daughter, Patricia. Paul and his wife, Barbara, have two children, Paul III and Caro.

The Uhlmann brothers have brought to their activities, their city, and their family an engaging enthusiasm, skill, and devotion. It goes against the grain for them to do otherwise. K.E.

Paul Uhlmann Jr. '42 is well-known in KansasCity, Mo., for his community work and for hisspecial talent for rewriting the lyrics of popularsongs to fit any occasion.

R.H. "Pat" Uhlmann '37 in the board room ofthe Uhlmann Company, scene of family businessand the fun that Pat brings to it.