He's owned radio and TV stations in Kansas, headed the fish and wildlife commission in Kansas and led the chamber of commerce in Kansas.
Come Friday night, Ross Beach tops his exploits off with a new title: Kansan of the Year.
Ross Beach, chairman of Douglas County Bank, will join his wife, Marianna, as a "Kansan of the Year" award winner Friday in Topeka. Ross Beach shared his memories of of the state while standing in front of a painting that depicts his ranch in Ellis County. The painting is in the upstairs lobby of the bank's headquarters, 300 W. Ninth St.
"Whenever your peers honor you with some award like this, it's really a great thing," said Beach, chairman and co-owner of Douglas County Bank in Lawrence. "And this one being statewide makes it even greater."
Beach will receive the award from the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas, an organization dedicated to preserving state history, showing loyalty to state traditions and honoring outstanding Kansas citizens.
The lifelong Kansan, born 83 years ago in Abilene, is being recognized for his work as a business leader and philanthropist.
In Lawrence, Beach and his wife, Marianna, have co-owned Douglas County Bank since 1964. Today the bank has six branches, 75 employees and $165 million in assets.
The Beaches established an endowment to finance Kansas University's Beach Center on Families and Disability, considered a world leader in research to make meaningful and sustainable differences in the lives of families who have children with disabilities.
"Mrs. Beach and I are very proud of that," Ross Beach said.
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He's also proud to be adding his name to the list of Kansans of Year, a list that already includes Lawrence developer Bob Billings and Lawrence artists Robert Sudlow and Stan Herd.
Last year the winner was Dean Smith, who was born in Emporia and went on to become a basketball coaching legend at the University of North Carolina. Other winners include mental-health pioneer Karl Menninger, astronauts Joe Engle and Stephen Hawley, and Rep. Jim Ryun and Sen. Pat Roberts.
Marianna Beach won the award in 1988.
"I'm finally catching up with her," said Ross Beach, who married Marianna Kistler of Manhattan in 1941. "After 60 years, I'm finally catching up with her. We're both pretty excited about it."
Ross Beach remains president of Kansas Natural Gas Inc., which owns oil- and gas-production assets in California, Louisiana and elsewhere. It's also the holding company for the bank.
Ross Beach also is the former owner of Kansas Broadcasting Inc., which included KWCH-TV, the CBS affiliate in Wichita. He formerly owned 22 radio stations in the region and once had the cable business now known as Eagle Communications, based in Hays.
Ted Haggart, president of Douglas County Bank, said "Mr. Beach" stood out among his fellow Kansans because he continued to concentrate his business and philanthropic efforts in his home state.
"This is all focused on the state of Kansas," Haggart said. "That's what makes this special."
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