Stix family

The Stix family is a prominent American Jewish family from St. Louis, Missouri. William Stix, the progenitor, founded Rice-Stix, Inc., a manufacturer and wholesaler of dry goods that was described as the largest business in St. Louis at the time of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.[1]

Rice-Stix building (1909 image).

The firm, in St. Louis since 1879, moved in 1889 to a new headquarters in a Richardsonian Romanesque building designed by Isaac S. Taylor at 1000 Washington Avenue.[2] By 1907 Rice-Stix owned the entire block between 10th and 11th, and between St. Charles and Washington streets, the largest footprint of any downtown merchant. Rice and Stix was the largest manufacturer of clothing in the United States in the 1950s. In 1955 Rice-Stix was sold to Reliance Manufacturing Co. in New York, in turn, Reliance manufacturing was acquired by Safle Bros., Inc.[1]

The family was active in rescuing European Jews from the Nazi Holocaust by obtaining visas for them to emigrate to the United States. Among the families they helped was the family of 2017 Nobel Laureate in physics, Rainer Weiss, who came as a child refugee on a visa obtained by the Stix family.[3]

Ernest W. Stix, Sr. (d. 1955) succeeded his father as head of Rice-Stix in 1916, his death in 1955 triggered the sale of the family business.[1]

Ernest Stix's cousin, Charles Stix, was a so-founder of St.. Louis's Stix Baer & Fuller department store.[1]

Ernest W. Stix, Jr., son of Ernest W. Stix, Sr., was a philanthropist.[1]

Thomas H. Stix, physicist, was a prominent member of the Stix family.

References
  1. Cohen, Robert (12 October 2011). "Ernest W. Stix, Jr. 95; businessman, artist, philanthropist". St. Louis Jewish Light. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. "Rice and Stix Dry Goods Company building at 1000 Washington Avenue". Missouri Historical Museum. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  3. "Interview with Rainer Weiss" (PDF). CalTech Oral History Project. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
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