5 of 9 Missourian Award recipients are locals

Greg Horton of Integrity Home Care is among the local recipients.

Five Springfield-area businesspeople and nonprofit leaders are among the nine Missourian Award recipients this year.

The Missourian Award was created in 1994 by Ralph Slavens and his late wife, Corrine, to honor individuals who have made a lasting impact on the Show-Me State. Past recipients include John Q. Hammons, Walt Disney and Harry S. Truman; last year’s local honorees were Cindy Baker, Jim Hodge and Barney Whitlock.

This year, the local recipients are:
• Greg Horton, of Springfield, CEO of Integrity Home Care Inc., which has provided in-home health care to more than 150,000 people during the past 20 years;
• Donna Powers, of Springfield, who owned and operated McDonald’s franchises via JDP Enterprises and has been a longtime board member of Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Ozarks Inc.;
• Cary Summers, of Rogersville, president emeritus of the Museum of the Bible and founder and CEO of The Nehemiah Group LLC, a consulting company for biblical nonprofits;
• Dee Wampler, of Springfield, a defense attorney with the Law Offices of Dee Wampler and Joseph Passanise PC, who has more than 53 years of courtroom experience; and
• Joe White, of Branson, president of Kanakuk Ministries and founder of Kids Across America and Cross International.

Outside of the Springfield area, Missourian Award recipients are Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop; Mariner Kemper, chairman, president and CEO of Kansas City-based UMB Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: UMBF); Jim O’Mara, who’s being honored posthumously for his 60 years of work and union membership with pipefitter organizations; and Jackie Smith, a former NFL player.

The Missourian Award recipients are scheduled to be honored Sept. 14 at The Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.