Robert Bailey Riss

Services for Robert Bailey Riss, 78, Kansas City, Mo., were Wednesday at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Kansas City, Mo.Mr. Riss died Friday, July 1, 2005, at University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, Kan.He was born May 27, 1927, in Salida, Colo., the son of Richard Roland Sr. and Louise Roberts Riss. He graduated from Culver Military Academy and received a Bachelor of Science in business administration in 1949 from Kansas University, where he was a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. He spent most of his life in the Kansas City area.Mr. Riss operated the Riss International Corp. He started and was chairman of Columbia Properties Inc., Grandview Bank & Trust, Commonwealth General Insurance Co. and Heart of America Fire & Casualty Co. He also served on several corporate boards.He was a member of the University of Kansas Hospital Chairman’s Club, President’s Club and Dean’s Club, as well as the Williams Educational Fund and the Chancellors Club of the Kansas University Endowment Association, where he was chairman of the Greater University Fund Advisory Board and executive committee member of the Council for Progress Capital Campaign. As a member of the board of trustees, he was on the executive committee and served as vice chairman for many years. He served on the executive committee of the advisory board for KU’s School of Business. He was a member of the board of directors and the executive committee for the Kansas University Alumni Association, where he served as president. He was a member of the board of directors of the KU Athletic Corporation and vice chairman of the Campaign Kansas capital fund drive.He received KU’s Distinguished Service Citation in 1976 and the Fred Ellsworth Medallion in 1979. He was named Most Outstanding Young Man in the State of Missouri by the U.S. Junior Chamber Of Commerce in 1956.He served as a member of the executive committee of the board of directors for the Kansas City Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and received the Silver Beaver Award in 1972. He served as president of the Boys Club of Kansas City, and was on the board of directors of several civic and arts groups.He married Loretta Dumovich. She survives, of the home.Other survivors include a son, Edward S., Mission Hills, Kan.; three daughters, Leslie Riss Raemdonck, Wilton, Conn., Laura Riss Stanford, Los Gatos, Calif., and Julie Riss Jurden, Mission Hills; a sister, Louise Riss Wells, Washington, D.C.; 10 grandchildren; and a great-grandson.The family suggests memorials to the Kansas University Endowment Association, The Boys and Girls Club or The Heart of America Council of the Boy Scouts of America, sent in care of D.W. Newcomers Stine & McClure Chapel, 3235 Gillham Plaza, Kansas City, MO 64109.