John Gottschalk

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
About ten years ago, I got a call. A prominent

(00:02):
Omaha civic figure summoned me to his office. He'd heard
I'd begun a side career in philanthropy development work at
the time. I was wise enough to accept the invitation, which,
given the individual, was destined to be more of a lecture.
Entering the building, there he was fixed in an overstuffed
chair behind a giant mahogany desk in an office decorated

(00:25):
with ornaments depicting a lifetime of achievements and community service.
He wasn't boastful of the awards and commendations, but happily
used them as a club. He would beat anybody who
entered that office lovingly over the head with him as
a means of motivation. The theme was this, we were
all put on this earth to help other people, to

(00:47):
make a difference in this community. Don't waste it. Now,
get out and do it, and know this. I'm in
your corner. It was John Gottschalk, and what a difference
he made. The small town sand Hills care who got
his first sales job as a teenager, rose to become
not just publisher of the Omaha World Herald, guiding that
paper through its glorious of days. But a community service

(01:10):
icon whose fingerprints are all over everything good about this
town and a fair chunk of the country, died over
the weekend at eighty one. Born in Rushville, grew up
in Gordon, Nebraska. John loved the state, loved the outdoors.
He was grateful for his good luck, worked a ranch
in the summers, helped out his grandfather, who owned a
county newspaper. By age twenty five, he'd scraped together enough

(01:34):
to buy his own paper in Sydney, The Sydney Telegraph
also served as mayor at the same time. Imagine how
much fun that was. Moved to Omaha and joined the
World Herald in the business operation, managed purchasing, acquisitions and operations.
Rose to publisher in nineteen eighty nine. And even though
John Gottschok was never a reporter, he staunchly defended the

(01:57):
value of pure journalism, even when it went up against
powerful business interests and Republican politicians, some of whom were
his close friends. Every day he'd remind the troops the
salvation of the state is in the watchfulness of the citizenry.
Do your job, but get it right. Under John, the
Omaha World Herald became the most influential entity in the state,

(02:20):
and from that lofty perch the marble floored office of
his downtown high rise. He committed to making this a
better place. He valued the humanities, believed we needed them
to be one. Served as chairman of Omaha Performing Arts Now.
Without gotch Chalk, the Orpheum Theater would have fallen into
disrepair and may be lost. The Holland Performing Arts Center

(02:42):
sprang up in the heart of downtown. His vision produced
the Steelhouse Theater and the Tanasca Center for Arts Engagement.
He was just warming up. He led the Mid America
Council for Boy Scouts, the Henry Dorley Zoo, the Joslyn
Creighton University Nebraska Game in Parks, and the Peter Keywood
Institution for Technology at UNO. Though history is proving the

(03:03):
learning community to be bad public policy, Gotchchok put his
shoulder behind the formation of it the Two County Consortium
of Public Schools, preserving funding for ops while maintaining financial
independence for suburban school districts, all of which put Gotschalk
in the limelight. But his most loving contribution came when

(03:24):
few watched and even fewer new Gotschalk and his wife, Carmen,
a high school sweetheart, were among the most passionate supporters
of Omaha's Child Saving Institute. This is the midtown agency
for one hundred and thirty one years has done just that,
cared for orphaned newborns awaiting adoption by fully vetted, eager

(03:46):
parents from around the country. Over the years, John and
Carmen lined their very home with rows of cribs, daily
holding the babies, feeding them, loving them, ensuring a healthy
start in those critical first few weeks of life. Two
hundreds so when Saint Peter reviews this application, it's going
to take a while.