Ozarks Profile: Corneil Datema

What is your job?

Datema is the owner and manager of Datema Building Supplies Inc., 5410 W. Farm Road 156, west of Springfield. The company sells retail building materials to contractors, remodelers, maintenance people and homeowners. "We sell everything from lumber to plywood to hardwoods, doors, windows, roofing, sheet rock, masonry cement, concrete mix, concrete block and hand tools," Datema said. "My job? Oh, boy. That's a good question. I do a little of everything. I watch the business and finances and hire people. I wait on customers and even help deliver. I try to keep up with the market and see that everything runs smoothly, and decide what to do and what not to do."

Tell us about your company.

Datema, his father, and his older brother, Hank, started the company in 1963. "It was a primitive setup, but as time went on the business grew and we kept expanding and building buildings and our inventory and buying equipment," he said. "My dad retired later on, then Hank and I bought his shares and ran it together for a while. Hank ran the construction company and I ran the building supply company. Then I bought Hank out of the building supply company and he bought me out of the construction company."

What prepared you for work in the building supply industry?

Datema said he grew up on his father's farm and "was always interested in building and materials it seemed I was always gathering up something or other and using it." Later, he did construction work with the family's construction company for six years.

What's the best part of working in the building supply business?

"I guess you might say the diversity of it," Datema said. "There are so many things we work with that I enjoy. New products, new lines. It's a fairly clean line of business. Handling lumber isn't like handling livestock. I've been a farmer. Farming would have been my next choice."

Tell us something about your personal life and family.

Datema's family emigrated from Holland in January 1949 and came to Springfield under the sponsorship of Dr. Sears F. Reipma, who was also Dutch and the pastor of Christ Episcopal Church for many years. "Dr. Reipma corresponded with my dad in Holland and became the closest friend we ever had. We've always lived in Springfield." Datema and his wife Shirley live on the same property the building supply company is on. They have two sons, Kenny and Raymond. "Kenny, our oldest, is building custom homes and remodeling and so forth. Raymond works for our competitors on the north side, Lowe's. We have two granddaughters, Taryn, 16, and Nyssa, 7." Datema said he and Shirley enjoy travel. They've visited relatives in Holland and especially enjoy spending time at Table Rock Lake. "We have an RV down there year-round," Datema said. He also enjoys "older trucks" and belongs to the American Truck and Historical Society. "I've partially restored a 1950 Chevrolet pickup and a 1954 two-ton Chevrolet flatbed," he said. "I've also restored a little 1938 Allis-Chalmers tractor."

by Frank Shipe