Noted Midwestern raconteur Omer L. Baumgartner passed away at his home in Ames, Iowa, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. He was 90 years old. Mr. Baumgartner had lived a long and passionate life dedicated to rambunctious performances and dairy products.
Born on a dairy farm in Walnut, Ill., Baumgartner was prodigious with the movement of manure from an early age, and exercising these and other talents, earned recognition for his National 4-H Grand Champion Dairy Heifer, "Clementine's Ramona," in 1930 at the age of 10. After this debut, and as the Depression raged, Baumgartner cut his teeth in the livestock industry while attending hundreds of county and state fairs showing and selling cattle, frying oysters, skinning rabbits, and drinking whiskey. While still a freshman at the University of Illinois, he successfully quelled the great dairy uprising of 1938, averting a desperate ice cream shortage in Chicago, and was immediately recruited, without finishing college, by the state's Guernsey Breeders Association as a field agent.
Despite never learning to cook anything other than fried oysters, Baumgartner attained the rank of Captain during World War II for running mess halls feeding over 5,000 in Tennessee and Alabama for the Army Air Corps. He was wildly popular with the troops for his mess hours bongo drum performances accompanied by dancing girls. Baumgartner notably worked for L.S. Heath and Company, running the dairy division and inventing Heath Bar ice cream in 1951. He also co-ran Wilkinson's Office Supplies with his wife, Jattie Wilkinson Baumgartner, serving one-third of the state of Illinois and parts of Iowa. Baumgartner disliked vegetables his whole life. Despite consuming more than 2,000 lbs. of butter, he never suffered from any kind of heart disease. His last meal was ice cream.
Baumgartner is survived by his daughters, Donna Prizgintas in Ames, Iowa, and Mary Baumgartner Levner in Portsmith, Va.; and grandchildren, Diana Prizgintas in New Zealand, Jack Levner in New York, Arion Thiboumery in Minnesota, and Stephanie Levner in New York; and great-grandchildren, Max Prizgintas and Ada Levner.
Memorials may be directed to Red Oak United Methodist Church in Walnut, Ill.
Online condolences may be sent to www.grandonfuneralandcremationcare.com.
Those of us who did not know Mr. Baumgartner are poorer for it. I send congratulations for an excellent obituary and more so for a life well-lived... from rural Iowa, from a small farmer and teacher. I and my neighbors have passed around the obit and discussed it and have been greatly encouraged by it. We have laughed, and we have also reflected on our lives because of it. Thanks, Mr. Baumgartner.
While I did not have the honor of knowing Mr. Baumgartner, the review of his life as provided in the obituary makes me wish I had had that opportunity. What a fun and interesting person he must have been.
Omer's obituary has spread far and wide on the internet--I posted it on my Facebook page a few days ago, noting that this was evidently a life wonderfully lived. When I go, I hope I'm remembered half as affectionately and vividly as this fine man was. Godspeed, Omer!
Omer:
I will drink a milkshake -- with a pat of butter, no less -- in your honor later today. God bless and Godspeed.
You know, I came up with a fictional character named Rosie Baumgartner a few years back:
spontoon.rootoon.com/SPwArRos.html
I never met Omer, but from what I read in the obituary, I bet they were, at least, spiritual cousins. :)
Here's to Omer! I never knew him, but I definitely miss him. :)
What a Man,What a Life.Hope he left a diary..
Your story has been circulating on the internet, and you have attracted a great number of fans. I only wish I could have known you in life. I could imagine what stories you could have told. And let me thank you for inventing Heath Bar ice cream! May you rest in peace, or at least have a great time where you are!
Rest in peace. I hope your next life will be as exciting and fulfilling as your last one!
Let me be the first pal!We sure had our day did we not?Why you sure were the reconot..recconiut..you sure told a whopper Omer!I'll miss you on the trail but we'll meet up again!
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