Opinion: Hammons - in his own words

Amid the public ceremony for John Q. Hammons, it was the Springfield businessman's own words that resonated the loudest.

During the afternoon celebration yesterday of Hammons' life, a video produced by Opfer Productions titled "The Life and Legacy of John Q. Hammons" featured an interview with the man whose name continues to live on through the business and philanthropic endeavors he left behind.

---

---

It was rather humbling to hear the big man's big ideas.

"I always wanted to succeed, I always wanted to be successful," Hammons said, noting it pained him as a youngster to see his parents lose their farm in Newton County. "That had a big impression on me."

After working his way through school at Monett Junior College and Missouri State University - though he never graduated, he said he hired plenty of people with degrees - Hammons entered the service and eventually got his business start in Springfield.

"After the war, I set up a concrete block plant, did not have a business knowhow or the capital, so it was a rough road for two or three years. I lost my $57,000 that I had saved during the war," said Hammons, who next teamed up with then plumber Roy Winegardner to get a start in the hotel business by purchasing properties under the Holiday Inn franchise. "The rest is history."

Hammons continued to work until 2010, when multiple cardiovascular, lung and pulmonary disorders forced him to step down from the top ranks of John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts after the founder developed 210 hotel properties in 40 states throughout his 50-plus year lodging-industry career.

Throughout the years, Hammons found the knowhow and gained the capital missing during his first endeavor.

"It takes guts and money, equal parts of both if you want to do things like this," he said. "Never build if you can't be successful, and never borrow money you can't pay back. Never fail to control cost, because cost is what it's all about."

With his success came a duty to give, and Hammons said his philanthropic endeavors started after he had a heart attack on May 1, 1960. The medical emergency led to him funding the Hammons Heart Institute at Mercy Hospital Springfield, an endeavor he said became one of his most popular.

"When you want to practice philanthropy, you can get right in line, there's nobody ahead of you - no waiting," said Hammons, who among his donations, pledged $30 million to MSU for the JQH Arena where his public memorial was held.

Speakers at the ceremony attended by 450-plus people were Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; Mayor Bob Stephens; John Moore Jr., former president of Drury University; Jerald Andrews, president and executive director of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame; J. Erik Kamfjord, chairman of the board and CEO of Winegardner and Hammons Inc.; and Matt Gifford, general manager and vice president of the Springfield Cardinals.

All speakers stood in awe of the man that has shaped Springfield, particularly the downtown area where I am happy to live, work and play. I'll echo others in saying, "Thank you, Mr. Hammons."[[In-content Ad]]