William Henry (Bill) Braum, founder of Braum’s Ice Cream and Dairy Stores, passed away at his home located on the Tuttle, OK Farm with his family by his side on Monday, March 23. He was 92.
Bill Braum’s expertise and roots in the processing and marketing of dairy products made him a true innovator. Braum gave real meaning to the term “vertical integration.” He was a dairyman, farmer, processor, manufacturer, and retailer of dairy products.
Bill Braum was born in Newton, Kansas in 1928, and raised in Emporia, Kansas. As a young boy, he began his working career by helping his father, Henry, in the family business – a small butter and milk processing plant in Emporia. In the 1930s, Henry added ice-cream processing to the operation.
After graduating from the University of Kansas in 1949 with a B.S. in Business Administration, Bill went to work full time for his father. He also met and married his wife, Mary, that year. Three years later, Bill and his father decided to specialize in retail stores and sold the wholesale part of the business. Following that, they developed a chain of retail ice cream stores in Kansas called “Peter Pan Ice Cream.”
To learn more about Braum's life, click here.
