An Iowa Farm Boy on Detour

Download or read book An Iowa Farm Boy on Detour written by Margaret O. Kirk and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An Iowa Farm Boy On Detour is the story of Henry B. Tippie--the first-born son of Iowa dairy farmers who turned a lifetime of hard work and a devotion to simple business principles into a true American success story.Written primarily as a personal history for his family, Henry's story begins near Belle Plaine, Iowa, where he was born in 1927. As a young boy, he listened to his mother's advice to get off the farm and find a better life, and her dreams fueled his drive for success. Before he celebrated his 90th birthday in 2017, Henry was an accomplished World War II veteran; a graduate of the University of Iowa; a successful businessman in Delaware and Georgia who helped orchestrate the first leveraged buyout (LBO) in American business history; a husband, father of three, and grandfather of nine; an entrepreneur and rancher in Texas; a recipient of the prestigious Horatio Alger Award; and a prominent educational and civic philanthropist in his home state of Iowa. The story of Henry B. Tippie is a universal tale, and many will no doubt see themselves in his rags to riches journey. But what makes Henry's story unique is the extraordinary degree of success he experienced--and the depth of what he calls "repayment for benefits received" to his hometown and the university that took a chance on him. This former Plainesman has never forgotten where he came from and the people who helped him when he had nothing. And that's what makes the story of Henry B. Tippie truly remarkable. "My whole life, I'm just a farm boy on a detour," said Henry B. Tippie. "That still sums it up pretty well."