Jacob Loose

Jacob L. Loose (June 17, 1850- September 18, 1923) was born in Greencastle, Indiana. He attended high school in Decatur, Illinois, and at the age of 20 moved to Kansas, where he opened a dry goods store with his brother in Chetopa.[1][2]

In 1878, he married Ella Clark from Carthage, Missouri. The couple moved to Kansas City in 1882 and entered the cracker business. He founded Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company, which was a huge success.

Community involvement

Loose started the Children's Mercy's endowment fund in 1913. He partially retired after an illness in 1919, and died at the couple's summer home in 1923. His will established the Million Dollar Charity Fund.

Ella's continued involvement

Ella Loose supported many causes, but she especially enjoyed providing for children's needs; the couple had had two children, but both died in infancy. She held an annual "shoe party" at her favorite orphanage, Gillis Orphan's home, where each child would get a new pair of shoes and a dollar.[3] Ella laid the groundwork for the couple's most visible legacy, Loose Park, by purchasing the land at 52nd and Wornall Road that had once been the Kansas City Country Club for and gifting it to the city in 1927 as a memorial to Jacob.[4] When she died, most of her estate went to the Million Dollar Charity Fund. It was Kansas City's first $1 million foundation.[5] This Fund, when combined with other Trusts, helped launch today's Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and Affiliated Trusts.[2]

References
  1. Notable Kansas Citians of 1915-1916-1917-1918. Kansas City, MO: The Independent. 1925. pp. 189–190.
  2. "Jacob L. and Ella C. Loose". The Pendergast Years. 2018-02-20. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  3. Kirkman, Paul (2012-10-23). Forgotten Tales of Kansas City. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781614237389.
  4. "Jacob L. Loose Memorial - KC Parks and Rec". Retrieved 2019-07-08.
  5. "A Century of Serving Poor and Needy Children | Greater Kansas City Community Foundation". www.growyourgiving.org. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
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