Benedict Zobrist

Benedict K. Zobrist, Lake Lotawana, Missouri, died Thursday, April 19, 2007 at St. Luke�s Hospital in Kansas City. The former Director of the Truman Library was 85.

He leaves behind him two legacies: a devoted and loving family, and a host of students, authors and researchers who learned the value of history and the importance of telling a good story.

He was born August 21, 1921 in Moline, Illinois, in a house only a few blocks from where his future wife, Donna Mae Anderson, grew up. He was the only child of Benedict and Lila A. Colson Zobrist. His father served in the United States Navy and circumnavigated the globe with the Great White Fleet. His father was the city electrician for Moline when he died in 1944. His mother, an accomplished pianist, died in 1970.

Ben was educated in the Moline public school system, graduating from high school in 1939. He loved music, playing alto saxophone and clarinet in a number of big bands that traveled the upper Midwest. He entered Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, but left his studies to join the Army in 1942. He served in the European Theater during World War II as an administrative NCO in a medical unit that was assigned to duty stations in Wales and England. After victory was won, he served with his unit in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Upon discharge from active duty, he returned to complete his college studies and met Donna Anderson in a history class they were both taking. Ben graduated from Augustana College in 1946 with a bachelor�s degree in history and began graduate school at Stanford University. However, his interest in Donna exceeded his Russian history studies at Stanford, and he returned to the Midwest. Ben and Donna were married on October 23, 1948 at Ascension Chapel on the Augustana campus.

Ben continued his graduate studies at Northwestern University, earning both a master�s degree (1948) and doctor of philosophy degree (1953) in history. His area of specialty was American diplomatic history. He worked at the Newberry Library in Chicago and the Manuscripts Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. He later became the first Command Historian of the Rock Island Arsenal.

When he returned to the area where he grew up, his mentors at Augustana College asked him to teach courses in the evening, given his expertise in Russian history and the history of the American West. Dr. Zobrist enjoyed the classroom so much that he became a full-time faculty member in 1960. In 1962 he won a Fulbright Fellowship and studied at Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan. He also pursued advanced studies at the East Asia Institute at Columbia University in New York in 1962-63. When he concluded his college teaching career in 1969, he was head of the History Department at Augustana and Associate Dean of the College. Among his proudest accomplishments were the establishment of international educational programs in Germany, Spain, and Japan.

In 1969, Dr. Zobrist joined the Truman Library in Independence, becoming Director shortly thereafter. He worked diligently to expand the collections of the Library, traveling from coast to coast to meet with members of the Truman Administration, as well as other significant figures of that period. His keen interest in President Truman�s legacy and his gentle appeal caused many prospective donors to send their papers to Independence.

He expanded the work of the Harry S. Truman Library Institute, the non-for-profit foundation associated with the library. Dr. Zobrist chartered a course for the expansion of the Institute�s education efforts and its support of the Library�s operations within the National Archives system. He also saw a need to revitalize the museum so that the Truman story could be told to younger audiences. He worked tirelessly to obtain funding to achieve that goal. Today the Truman Presidential Museum is a vibrant and exciting place for young and old.

He was most proud of instituting
"Truman Week� - a weeklong annual celebration held around President Truman�s birthday, May 8, during which many local and national organizations remember and honor the 33rd President of the United States.

He maintained his affiliation with the U.S. Army as a reservist, and retired as Lieutenant Colonel. He spent many summers on active duty with the Office of the Chief Of Military History in Washington, D. C. Dr. Zobrist also served as a faculty member at the Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth and the Army Intelligence School, Ft. Bragg.

In 1995 Avila College awarded Dr. Zobrist a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He was named 1994 World Citizen of the Year by the Kansas City United Nations Day Committee. The City of Independence honored him with a Special Recognition Award in 1988.

For many years he was a member of the State of Missouri Historical Records Advisory Board. He served as a Trustee to the Black Archives of Mid-America. His articles have appeared in Military Affairs, Journalism Quarterly, and the Missouri Historical Journal.

Dr. Zobrist was a board member of the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation, where he served as chairman of the scholarship committee; the Independence Heritage Commission; Rotary Club; the Tirey J. Ford American Legion Post. No. 21; and the Jackson County Historical Society.
He was proud of his three sons: Karl, a Kansas City lawyer; Mark, a lawyer and businessman in New Haven, Missouri; and Erik, a marine biologist with the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration in Washington, D.C.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Donna, of the home. Also, surviving are his three sons: Karl and wife Beth, Mark and wife Ellen, Erik and wife Kitty. He and Donna were proud of their seven grandchildren; Andrew, Abigail, Bennett, Brad, David, Myrick and Jack.

Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Monday, Apr 23rd at the Village Presbyterian Church, 66th & Mission Road, Prairie Village, Kansas. Visitation will be from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday, Apr 22 at the Carson-Speaks Chapel, 1501 W. Lexington Ave., Independence, Missouri.

The family suggests contributions in his memory to either the Truman Library Institute at the Truman Presidential Library or the Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation, P.O. Box 26746, Shawnee Mission, Kansas 66225.