Sherman W. Dreiseszun (May 23, 1922 – December 3, 2007) was a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

who built

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

's two tallest buildings as well as several shopping malls throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

Early life

Dreiseszun was the son of

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...

immigrants. He was born at 1734 Prospect Avenue in the

18th and Vine 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect number. ...

Jazz District of

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

. He served in

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 ...

as a crewmember on

B-17 The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

planes. In 1946, he and nephew Frank Morgan (four years his junior) formed a partnership Vic-Gene Manufacturing Inc. to sell women's wear to

-area stores.

Shopping malls and banking empire

In the 1960s, it branched into building shopping malls opening the French Market in

Overland Park, Kansas Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As o ...

. In 1964, they took over a struggling effort to build the

East Hills Mall East Hills Shopping Center is an enclosed shopping mall in St. Joseph, Missouri, United States. Opened in 1965, the mall currently features J. C. Penney as its only anchor tenant. History East Hills Shopping Center was built by Sherman Dreiseszun ...

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

They operated under the name of MD Management. In 1967, they opened

Metcalf South Shopping Center Metcalf South Shopping Center was a shopping mall in Overland Park, Kansas. It opened in 1967, near a large, unique department store called the French Market, which later became a strip mall anchored by Kmart and Hancock Fabrics (the Kmart closed ...

which was the first large indoor mall in the Kansas City area. They would also establish a banking network Mission Bank in

Mission, Kansas Mission is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 9,954. History An Indian mission was established in 1829 at the town's site, hence ...

, Metro North State Bank in Kansas City, Missouri, Valley View State Bank in Overland Park Industrial State Bank in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

and Security Bank of Kansas City as well as Merchants Bank in Kansas City. The banks would finance their expansion. Some of the projects would be done in conjunction with Copaken, White & Blitt.

Rebuilding the Kansas City skyline

In addition to building suburban shopping centers, they made their mark with the construction of Kansas City's two tallest buildings—the

Town Pavilion Town Pavilion is a 38-story skyscraper at 1111 Main Street on the northeast corner of 12th and Main Streets in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, around the corner from Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park. The tower occupies the former site of seve ...

in 1986 and

One Kansas City Place One Kansas City Place is the tallest building in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, bounded by 12th Street to the north, Baltimore Avenue to the west, and Main Street to the east. Built in 1988, this 18 ...

in 1987. The buildings changed the landscape of downtown Kansas City where the

Kansas City Power and Light Building The Kansas City Power and Light Building (also called the KCP&L Building and the Power and Light Building) is a landmark skyscraper located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri. It was constructed by Kansas City Power and Light in 1931 as a way to p ...

had stood as the tallest since 1931. One Kansas City Place is twenty one feet taller than the

Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources conside ...

. In 1985 and 1991, he and Morgan were listed on the ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

'' list of richest Americans with more than $500 million in assets.

Collapse

Their empire took big hits in the early 1990s when their banks faltered in the Savings and loan crisis. They were charged with bid rigging for leasing its office space. Morgan died in 1993 proclaiming his innocence. The

FDIC The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures credi ...

prohibited Dreiseszun from being involved with the banks. In 1996, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges and paid a $375,000 fine and would regain control of many of his banks via the Valley View Financial Group.

Personal life

In 1956, he married Irene Friedman; they had three children, Helene Dreiseszun Abrahams, Richard Dreiseszun, and Barbara Dreiseszun. He was president for life at Kehilath Israel Synagogue in Overland Park and was active with Jewish philanthropies.

Shopping malls

*Buckingham Square Mall (now

The Gardens on Havana The Gardens on Havana is a shopping mall in Aurora, Colorado, United States. Built in 1971 as Buckingham Square, the mall underwent a decline in tenancy throughout the 1990s which resulted in the closure of most stores. Demolished between 2007 and ...

Aurora, Colorado Aurora (, ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, Arapahoe, Adams County, Colorado, Adams, and Douglas County, Colorado, Douglas List of counties in Colorado, ...

Crestview Hills Mall Crestview may refer to: Places ;Canada * Crestview, Ottawa, Ontario ;United States * Crestview, California, in Mono County * Crestview, Los Angeles, California * Crestview, Florida Crestview is a city in Okaloosa County, Florida, United States ...

Crestview Hills, Kentucky Crestview Hills is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, in the United States. The population was 3,148 at the 2010 census. Crestview Hills is located in Northern KY. Interstate 275 travels through the city.Interstate 71/75 lies cl ...

Saint Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which inclu ...

(1965) *French Market,

(1967-2014) *

Metro North Mall Metro North Mall was a mall located at 400 NW Barry Road, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States Metro North opened in 1976 and was the only enclosed mall located north of the Missouri River in the Kansas City metro area, as well as being the ...

(1976-2014) *

Oak Park Mall Oak Park Mall is a super-regional shopping mall located in Overland Park, Kansas, containing over 180 stores in a covered area of . It is the largest mall in the Kansas City Metro Area as well as the entire state of Kansas, and is split into two ...

(1975) *

Southwyck Shopping Center Southwyck Mall was a shopping mall in southern Toledo, Ohio. After the final anchor (Dillard's) left, along with most of the inline stores, the mall closed on June 29, 2008. History The mall first opened in August 1972 by Kansas City developers ...

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

(1972-2008) Demolished in 2009 *West Main Mall,

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

* Westminster Mall,

Denver, Colorado Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

(1977-2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreiseszun, Sherman 1922 births 2007 deaths Businesspeople from Kansas City, Missouri American real estate businesspeople American bankers American people of Polish-Jewish descent United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American businesspeople