Betty (Goshorn) WELDON

WELDON, RHINO, GOSHORN, PROCTOR

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 4/28/2007 at 01:34:38

Mrs. William H. Weldon, age 85 years, of Jefferson City, Mo., a longtime newspaper publisher, champion saddlebred horse breeder, and television pioneer, died Wednesday, April 18, 2007, at her home after a lengthy illness. Mrs. Weldon was born February 22, 1922, in Eagle Grove, Iowa, the daughter of Robert C. and Lenore Rhino Goshorn, both deceased. She was married in July 1956 to William H. Weldon, who preceded her in death on October 4, 2002. Mrs. Weldon moved to Missouri from Eagle Grove, Iowa, in early 1927, when she was five years old, after her father bought a share of the Jefferson City Tribune Company. After attending classes in the Jefferson City Public Schools for several years, she graduated from high school from the Mount Vernon Seminary, Washington, D.C. in 1940. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass. in 1943. After her college graduation, she worked for the newspaper company which had purchased several other area papers and then included the Post-Tribune and The Capital Daily News. She later received Honorary Doctor's Degrees from Lincoln University in 1990 and William Woods University in 1991. Mrs. Weldon served on the William Woods University Board of Trustees for several years, beginning in 1991. Mrs. Weldon was owner and publisher of the Jefferson City News Tribune, Fulton Sun and California Democrat. She was owner of Callaway Hills Stables, near New Bloomfield. She was also the founder of KRCG-TV. She was the first woman in the United States to launch a television station when, in 1955, she fulfilled her father's dream of operating a news station based in Jefferson City. The Federal Communications Commission approved her call letters KRCG, which Mrs. Weldon had sought in honor of her father. She operated the station from 1955 sign-on until she sold to the Kansas City Southern Railroad Company in 1966. About the same time as Federal Regulators moved to eliminate the so-called cross-ownership of print and broadcast operations in the same community, she sold the newspaper's ownership of KWOS Radio, which her father had started in 1936. She also founded the Callaway Hills Stables on land between New Bloomfield and Holts Summit, building it to become the largest, privately owned American Saddlebred breeding operation in the world, and home of many world champions. Callaway Hills may best be known for its breeding, raising and training of Will Shriver, a five-gaited world champion stallion who was recognized as a leading sire of five-gaited horses. Callaway Hills also is home to an animal shelter that provides shelter for, and seeks good homes for the adoption of, lost or abandoned dogs and cats that otherwise would be euthanized. She started the shelter in the early 1980's, and it is one of the largest no-kill, non-profit shelters in mid-Missouri. She was very active in efforts to provide humane treatment of animals. Mrs. Weldon donated the first building space in Jefferson City to be used for the education of handicapped children. First known as the Goshorn Handicapped Center, it later merged with other schools to become today's Special Learning Center. She was also active in many other community and national associations and groups, including service as a Board Member of the Jefferson City Family Y.M.C.A., the United Way of Central Missouri, the former Memorial Community Hospital Board of Governors, the St. Mary's Health Center Advisory Board, the Lincoln University Advisory Council, the Jefferson City Housing Authority, the Deborah Cooper Foundation for Riverfront Development, the Missouri Welfare Association, the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, and the United Missouri Bank. She was a member of P.E.O., Chapter BW; and the Tuesday Club. She was responsible for the first cancer fundraising drive in Missouri and was a member of the Missouri State Cancer Board. Mrs. Weldon chaired the Missouri Horse Racing Commission in the 1980's and early 1990's. Her national service included memberships on the board of the American Saddlebred Horse Association, the American Horse Council, the American Royal Horse Show Committee, the American Quarter Horse Association, the American Saddlebred Museum, the Lexington Kentucky Junior League Horse Show Committee, the White House Conference on Children and Youth, and the American Security Council.In 1996, Mrs. Weldon was named to the 100 Member Academy of Squires. In February 2000, she received the Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce's William W. Quigg Leadership Award. The Zonta Club's Annual Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at its Yellow Rose Luncheon, bears her name. In March 2002, The Missouri Women's Council honored her as one of the women who were "Exceptions That Created The Rule," a tribute to "over sixty of Missouri's founding foremothers, whose fortitude, persistence, and judgment led them to enter and succeed in occupations that were formerly the domain of men." In November 2000, The American Royal presented its first ever "Medal of Distinguished Service to the American Saddlebred Horse" to Mrs. Weldon, during the 101st American Royal Horse Show, Saddle Horse Division in Kansas City, Mo.

Survivors include: one son, Frank Gifford Weldon of Jefferson City, Mo.; two daughters, Lenore "Tony" Weldon of New Bloomfield, Mo., and Sally Proctor of Bigfork, Montana; one granddaughter, Isabelle Brooks. Funeral services will be conducted at 1:00 p.m., Monday, April 23, 2007, at the First United Methodist Church. Private entombment will be at the Goshorn Mausoleum at Riverview Cemetery. A reception will be at the Jefferson City Country Club at 3:00 p.m. Monday. Mrs. Weldon was very generous to many local charities. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Callaway Hills Animal Shelter, the Carmelites, the Jefferson City Y.M.C.A. or any local charity. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Freeman Mortuary. www.freemanmortuary.com

Jefferson City News-Tribune (MO)
April 22, 2007

Thursday, Apr 19, 2007

Mrs. William H. Weldon, 1922-2007
Friends remember how Mrs. Weldon's life touched this community

By Bob Watson
bwatson@newstribune.com
Mid-Missouri is a changed, much-better place because of Mrs. William H. Weldon's contributions, friends said Wednesday as they remembered her life.

Mrs. Weldon, 85, died Wednesday morning after a lengthy illness.

“She was a real power in this community, with the newspaper, and she did a lot of things that no one ever knew about,” said 92-year-old Robert Blosser, who began working for the News Tribune on his 18th birthday in 1932.

Now a member of the paper's board of directors, Blosser is a former photographer and president of the paper and also worked with Mrs. Weldon at KRCG-TV.

“She loved this community, and she was for everything that benefited the community through the years,” he said.

State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. recalled Mrs. Weldon welcoming him after his appointment to the high court.

“From the very day I came to Jefferson City 15 years ago, I had the privilege and honor of her acquaintance and her friendship,” Limbaugh said. “I had a wonderful relationship with her, and she extended a number of personal kindnesses to me as someone who came to Jefferson City from out of town.”

More importantly, though, was the fact that “her long career as a woman in business, and especially in the broadcasting and print media business, was remarkable,” Limbaugh said.

“She was a pioneer and an immensely successful woman in a man's world, and her career serves as a splendid example to women of this generation who, themselves, aspire to be leaders in the business world.”

The Zonta Club's annual Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at its Yellow Rose Luncheon, bears her name.

And in March 2002, the state's Women's Council honored her as one of the women who were “Exceptions that Created the Rule,” a tribute to “over 60 of Missouri's founding foremothers, whose fortitude, persistence, and judgment led them to enter and succeed in occupations that were formerly the domain of men.”

Mrs. Weldon was the first woman in the United States to launch a television station when, in 1955, she fulfilled her father's dream of operating a new station based in Jefferson City.

But communications was not her only business.

In the 1940s, Mrs. Weldon founded Callaway Hills Stables on land between New Bloomfield and Holts Summit, building it to become the largest, privately owned American Saddlebred breeding operation in the United States, and the home of many world champions.

Her success was “the most unique of anybody that's ever been in the history of our industry,” said Redd Crabtree, a Kentucky man considered one of the industry's most influential horsemen.

In November 2000, the American Royal presented its first-ever “Medal for Distinguished Service to the American Saddlebred Horse” to Mrs. Weldon, during the 101st American Royal Horse Show, Saddle Horse Division in Kansas City.

Show announcer Peter Fenton of St. Francis, Maine, said the award was presented “on behalf of the state, the American Royal and the glorious American Saddlebred Horse.”

Crabtree said Wednesday: “She was the most influential person this industry has ever had, because of the success of her breeding program and the continued success of those horses.

“The horses there today are the best ones they've ever had in their history, so it proves she was absolutely right in her vision and her dream for the program.”

Callaway Hills may best be known for its breeding, raising and training of Will Shriver, a five-gaited World Champion stallion who was recognized as a leading sire of five-gaited horses, and also was honored by the American Royal award in 2000.

“Who knows if one's going to end up being better than him,” Crabtree said. “They (now) have the best three young horses that have ever been on that farm at any one time.”

After his death in 1991, the Will Shriver Memorial Scholarship was established at William Woods University, to allow future equestrian students an opportunity to attend the Fulton school.

Mrs. Weldon served on that school's board of trustees for several years, beginning in 1991.

One of her fellow trustees was Susie Skelton, wife of U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton until her death in August 2005.

Ike Skelton on Wednesday called Mrs. Weldon “a great person, an outstanding leader and a good friend. She was very delightful to be with, she was very engaging in conversation.”

Though backers of different political parties, Skelton noted: “Our friendship was never bothered by politics.”

And some of their interests were similar, including her support for national defense issues, he said.

Jefferson City banker Sam Cook, a friend from the time they went to kindergarten together at the old Moreau Heights School, remembered: “At one time, when she and I were in high school, we were on opposite sides of the political fence, but I think we kind of came together. She was a fun, interesting, smart person, and we frequently disagreed, but always in a friendly way.”

Cook recalled her reluctance to be an active civic leader, thinking the newspaper publisher shouldn't be that involved.

“When she decided that she wanted to get involved in community affairs,” he said, “without regard to any kind of politics or any kind of personal feelings, she really was a major asset to what was going on in the community.”

That was especially true of her work on the Jefferson City Housing Authority, he said, but also applied to her leadership of the Deborah Cooper Foundation, seeking to improve Jefferson City's riverfront and provide public access to Adrian's Island.

“She really cared about the community and the people here,” Cook said. “She started the Goshorn Handicapped Center that's now the Special Learning Center, but she never tried to use it for publicity.”

A scholarship in her name helps Special Learning Center students attend a therapeutic riding program.

She also helped launch the Rape and Abuse Crisis Service.

Don Campbell, former chairman and CEO of Exchange Bank, recalled her support helped make the Jefferson City Family YMCA a reality.

“She was one of the most supportive persons for Jefferson City that I have ever known,” Campbell said.

Cook hopes Mid-Missourians will remember Mrs. Weldon for “her community involvement and how she loved the community, and how she wanted to do something to help it because she grew up here and felt a part of it.”

Copyright © 2007 News Tribune Co, Missouri,
April 19, 2007