Back in the early 1900s, North Texas was ripe for young entrepreneurs planting their seeds of empire building. Carrie Marcus Neiman, her husband Al Neiman and Carrie’s brother Herbert Marcus opened a store with all things “ready-to-wear” in clothes in downtown Dallas called Neiman Marcus. John Armstrong and his sons-in-law Hugh Prather and Edgar Flippen started work on developing 1,365 acres north of downtown Dallas called “Highland Park.”
And then there was 24-year-old Karl St. John Hoblitzelle, who came to Dallas with $2,500 in his pocket and began to build a chain of vaudeville theaters, eventually transitioning into the Interstate Theater Company that at one point had 160 theaters across Texas and the Southeast. Hoblitzelle was industrious and a visionary as the theaters were among the first to have movies with sound and air conditioning. And he expanded his business dealings by investing in the growing oil and gas, real estate and banking industries in Texas.
But he was also a staunch philanthropist and, when he married Esther Thomas in 1920, he found a true soulmate. Before Edith’s death in 1943 from cancer, the Hoblitzelles, who had no children, created the Hoblitzelle Foundation that would continue their mission to support charitable, scientific, literacy and educational causes within the State of Texas.
Upon his death in 1967, Karl’s will made his long-term commitment to help others clear, saying, “A Foundation may bring or help bring into being a project or program of great promise and worth which might fail or be long deferred because of lack of financial support from others sources.”
Since that time the Foundation’s directors have approved 3,561 grants to 1,051 agencies, investing $276 million in social service, cultural, educational and medical organizations in Texas.
It was just announced that the Foundation’s board has added three members including Jeanne Whitman Bobbitt, Nina Prothro Clark and Jennifer Staubach Gates.
In making the announcement, Foundation President/CEO Katie Robbins said, “It’s an honor to welcome Nita, Jennifer and Jeanne to our board. Their extensive experience in community leadership and unwavering dedication to service make them ideal stewards of the Foundation’s mission. I am confident they will help further the vision of Karl Hoblitzelle, continuing to uplift meaningful initiatives through North Texas.”
The trio will be joining current board members Chairman Jere W. Thompson Jr., Vice-Chairman Mike S. Rawlings, Treasurer Holland P. Gary, State Rep. Rafael M. Anchia, Dr. Daniel K. Podolsky, Catherine M. Rose and Lizzie Horchow Routman.
* Graphic/photo provided by the Hoblitzelle Foundation