No: 35
Date: 9/1/1987
Name: (Mrs. B) Rose Blumkin
Rose Blumkin is shown in a jet-powered golf cart. She was known for driving a golf cart quickly around the store she founded, the Nebraska Furniture Mart. Mrs. B appeared on stage at the Omaha Press Club Show earlier that year, while Warren Buffett sang a version he wrote of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" that saluted the invincibility of the Nebraska Furniture Mart. The daughter of a Russian rabbi arrived in America in 1917. She started the Nebraska Furniture Mart in 1937. The store would grow to become the largest single furniture store in the United States before her death in 1998 at age 104. Her motto: "Sell cheap and tell the truth." In 1984, she was granted an Honorary Doctorate in Commercial Science by New York University, the first woman to receive the prize. Creighton University presented her with an honorary doctor of law degree that same year. Warren Buffett purchased 90 percent of the Mart in 1983 on a handshake with Mrs. B. Two years after her "Face" was unveiled, she started a new business, which she later sold back to the Mart. The philanthropist donated $1.5 million to the Jewish Federation of Omaha to establish a home later called the Rose Blumkin Home and later saved a downtown theater, which was renamed The Rose in her honor. One member complained that the drawing made "Mrs. B" look too young. But no complaint was heard from the 93-year-old honoree. Back to Top