Julius Schepps (November 16, 1895 – May 25, 1971) was an American civic leader and businessman. 03 Julius Schepps Park Statue 02

Early life

Schepps was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

to Russian immigrant parents Joe and Jennie (née Nathanson) Schepps. When his parents moved to

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, Texas in 1901 to start a bakery business, he worked in the bakery and sold newspapers. He attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in 1914 on a basketball scholarship until it was discovered that he lacked a high school education.

Later years

Though Schepps was forced to leave the university, he became a lifetime supporter of it. He later moved to

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

and worked there for two years. He married Phyllis Eickman in El Paso in 1915, with whom he later had three children.

Business life

Schepps acquired the family bakery in 1922 when his father Joe Schepps died (it was sold in 1928). After the bakery was sold, he started an insurance company that lasted 43 years. He established the Schepps Brewing Company in 1934 and sold it the next year. He served on the board of directors (once as chairman) for the Mercantile National Bank from 1922 until his death. He shared other business interests including bakeries and other insurance companies. His success as a businessman allowed him to become a generous contributor to a number of charities.

Charity work

Schepps donated close to $120,000 to the relief of Jews in the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and contributed to build a retirement home for the Jewish population in Dallas. Schepps was once a member of St. Peter's Roman Catholic Parochial School, co-chairman of the mission to build St. Paul Hospital in Dallas, and was also a member of other

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

groups. He acted as director of the

United Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...

, the

Dallas Chamber of Commerce The Dallas Regional Chamber--formerly known as the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Dallas Chamber of Commerce—is a chamber of commerce that represents businesses and institutions in North Texas, including the Dallas/ Fort Worth metr ...

, the Carruth Memorial Rehabilitation Center, WRR classical radio station (the oldest radio station in Texas, and second oldest in the United States),About WRR
and the Dallas Citizens Council. Schepps served on the committee for the West Dallas Housing Project in later years. Schepps served on the grand jury that investigated a string of bombings in African-American communities in the 1950s in Dallas, and headed the first biracial committee in Dallas.

Awards

Schepps received the

Linz Award Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

in 1953 and was recognized as "Dallas's Most Outstanding Citizen" the following year. He was recognized as "Headliner of the Year" by the Press Club of Dallas in 1962. Three years later, he received a "Brotherhood Citation" by the National Conference of Christians and Jews and was given the Humanitarian Award by B'nai B'rith. The stretch of

Interstate 45 Interstate 45 (I-45) is a major Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Texas. While most Interstate routes which have numbers ending in "5" are cross-country north–south routes, I-45 is comparatively short, with the ...

within the City of Dallas, and a small park in

Deep Ellum Deep Ellum is an American neighborhood composed largely of arts and entertainment venues near downtown in East Dallas, Texas. The name is based on a corruption of the area's principal thoroughfare, Elm Street. Older alternative uses include De ...

are both named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schepps, Julius 1895 births 1971 deaths Businesspeople from St. Louis 20th-century American businesspeople