James M. Kemper Jr.

October 10, 1921 - December 15, 2016

James M. Kemper Jr. was born in Kansas City, MO, son of James M. Kemper

Sr. and Gladys Woods Rubey. He attended Pembroke Country Day School, graduating in 1939

to attend Yale College in what would be the graduating class of 1943. After Pearl Harbor, he left

his studies to enlist in the first cavalry division as a first lieutenant. He served with distinction in

the South Pacific, receiving a Purple Heart and leaving the army in 1945 as a captain. His older

brother, David Woods Kemper, was killed in action in northern Italy in April 1945.

After the war, he returned to Yale to finish his undergraduate degree and then returned to

Kansas City in 1946 to join the Commerce Trust Company as a commercial banking officer. He

married Mildred Lane in 1948, with whom he had four children. After a thirty-nine year marriage,

she died in 1986. He later married Suzanne Shutz, now divorced.

Born into a family of bankers, he was the fourth generation of his family to lead the Commerce

Bank, where he was a formidable presence, especially in its senior Loan Committee meetings.

In 1967, Fortune Magazine called him “the most professional banker that the Kempers have

produced - a man who at bank meetings tends to know as much about details as his

specialists.” Mr. Kemper was a strategic and innovative businessman taking Commerce Bank

from a $500 million single-location downtown Kansas City bank to a major $6.8 billion regional

bank holding company at his retirement. He also championed downtown Kansas City building

three major office buildings including the landmark Commerce Tower.

He was elected president of Commerce Bank in 1955, serving until his retirement as chairman

in 1991. After leaving the bank, he continued as chair of Tower Properties, a Kansas City-based

property company, and chaired the contributions committee of the William T. Kemper

Foundation.

In addition to his very successful career in banking, he was a leader in numerous business, civic

and philanthropic agencies primarily in the Midwest. His corporate board service included

Chem Agro, Archer Daniels Midland, Paul Mueller Company, Kansas City Life Insurance,

Owens Corning Fiberglas and the Missouri Pacific Railroad. He was the founder of the

Downtown Council of Kansas City. He served as board member and chair of the Kansas City

Public School District, board member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and chairman

of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Board.

He was generous to his family and to a broad number of charitable and cultural agencies

throughout his life; he generally preferred to remain anonymous and rarely allowed his personal

philanthropy to receive attention. He recently established the David Woods Kemper Veterans

Foundation in memory of his brother to support veterans’ issues through research and

advocacy.

A passionate horseman, for years Mr. Kemper had a farm in southern Jackson County which

was a center of family activity. An avid and lifelong reader of history, he also had a passion for

contemporary art, particularly Chinese, Japanese, and German, and collected ancient Chinese

sculpture.

He has three children, David, Jonathan, and Julie Foyer. Laura Kemper Fields predeceased him

in 2014. He has 14 grandchildren: John Kemper, Ellie Kemper Kamen, Carrie Kemper Doogan,

William Kemper, Julia Fields Jackson, James Fields, Charlotte Kemper, Nicolas Kemper, David

Kemper, Jean Charles Foyer, Emilie Foyer, Christophe Foyer. Aymeric Foyer and Laurent Foyer

and 7 great grandchildren.

There will be a memorial service in mid-January. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests

contributions to Operation Breakthrough, 3039 Troost, Kansas City, MO 94109.