grave import

Obituary

Funeral services for Homer Banta, 62, former president of the Iowa Soap company, who died Saturday, will be held at Wallen Chapel at 10 am Tuesday.
Rev. AD Freden, Moline, Ill., former pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church at Burlington, will officiate. Burial will be at Aspen Grove Cemetery.
Banta, long connected with the soap company, was also prominent in civic activities. In 1933 he was named Burlington Citizen No. 1. He died early Saturday morning at his home 2500 S. 3rd Street, following an illness of several years.
From the HawkEye Gazette:
Homer Dwight Banta, 62, long prominent in Burlington as head of the Iowa Soap company until his retirement from active participation in the firm in 1951, died at his home, 2500 S. 3rd street, Saturday at 3:30 am.
He had been ill for several years and was virtually bedfast for the last year. The body is at Wallen’s chapel, pending funeral arrangements.
Born Feb. 16, 1892, on a farm near Bronson, Kan., he started on the road as a salesman of calendars at an early age. For three years he worked for the Cudahy Soap company of Kansas City and for Haskins Brothers of Omaha.
In 1912 he came to the Iowa Soap company in Burlington as a salesman.
He interrupted his career with the local soap company to serve in the army. Enlisting at Ft. Scott, Kan., in April 1918, he served with the First company, 161st depot brigade, handling draft troops at Camp Funston, Kan. In December of 1918, he was discharged with the rank of captain.
Returning to the soap company in 1918, he continued as a salesman until 1921 when he was made secretary and sales manager. In 1925, upon the death of Fred C. Ihrer, he became treasurer and general manager of the company. In 1930 he was made president and general manager, a position he held until April of 1951. At that time he, along with other stockholders, sold his interests to two prominent Chicago investment firms, Ames Emerich & Co., and Sills, Fairman & Harris, Inc.
In addition to his connections with the soap company, Banta participated in civic activities and often was a large contributor to worthy causes. In 1933 he was named Burlington Citizen No. 1.
After his first marriage ended in divorce, he married Mabel Henry on Mar. 22, 1920, in Waterloo. They were divorced Dec. 26, 1946, and she now lives at Hotel Burlington. On Apr. 5, 1947, he married Audrey Wright of Burlington, in Kansas City, Kan.
She survives as do three nephews, Max Banta of Moorestown, N.J., Everett Banta of Seattle, and Ben Banta of Wichita, Kan., and a niece, Mrs. Neal White of Pasadena, Calif. Two brothers, Charles and Robert, and his parents are dead.
His father, Bennett Roy Banta, was born in Knoxville, Ia., and his mother, Lillie D. Sheppard, was a native of Ravenswood, W. Va. In 1882, the Bantas disposed of their interest in Bates county, Mo., and moved to a farm near Blue Mound, Kan., where they lived until 1902. At that time they moved to the farm near Bronson, Kan., where their son, Homer was born.
Banta had other business interests in Burlington in addition to the soap company. He was one of the organizers of National Bank of Burlington and a director at the time of his death. One of the founders of the Interstate Oil company, he had served as president of the firm for 27 years.
Keenly interested in the Humane Society, he had served as it’s president for many years. His hobbies include raising saddle horses and farming. In politics, he was a Republican. He had served four years as a member of the draft board. A member of the Baptist faith, he was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of Patriot Blue lodge 650, Davenport Consistory, Kaaba Shrine and Scottish Rite.
He had served as a Chamber of Commerce director, a director of the Flint Hills club and a trustee of the Elks lodge. He was a member of the Burlington Golf Club and an honorary member of the Kiwanis club.
Among the national offices, he held was a directorship of the National Soap Manufacturers association for 20 years. He was appointed a member of the National Soap and Glycerine Industries Advisory committee by the War Production Board to serve without compensation. He was also a director of the National Manufacturers Association.
In Iowa, he had served as a director of the Iowa Petroleum Association and Iwa Manufacturers.
The history of the Iowa Soap company with which Banta was connected for 39 years is a story of business progress in the American tradition. It began as a “frontier manufactury” in the last century and steadily progressed until it became the fifth largest manufacturer in its industry. In the 1880s, the Alexander Brothers moved their tiny soap making business to Burlington from Monmouth, Ill. Their methods of manufacture were little advanced from those of colonial times. They set up business in a little building on the Mississippi bank. That was the beginning of the firm which became the Iowa Soap company.
The business moved upward steadily in growth and skills as it enlisted more capital and more people. In 1918, the firm was offered for sale, and at this time the present Iowa Soap company was formed with John Blaul as president. Banta was in charge of sales, in those days, but the really significant growth and expansion of the Iowa Soap company began when he was appointed general manager in 1925.
Laboratory control, modern machinery and modern methods came int the firm and business increased 200 percent between 1925 and 1934, despite the fact that some of these years were in the midst of the depression.
Banta kept his factories running during the depression, supplying employment for about 400 people with a payroll of some $400, 000 a year.
Friends said of him that his door was open to the humblest seeker, whether it be a transient in need of a pair of shoes, a businessman needing a loan or some employee in danger of losing his home.