History

The Kearney Goodfellows organization traces its origins to businessmen who gathered for coffee at the old Fort Kearney Hotel. It was sometime in the 1940s when newspaperman Ormond Hill encouraged his coffee buddies to pass the hat to buy Christmas gifts for children in need.

Among the regulars around the table were hotel owner John Henry, oil distributor Howard Nims and florist O.L. Erickson. Appliance distributor Earl King also was among the instigators, and proudly kicked off each year’s drive with his $100 donation.

Other business leaders got involved soliciting donations and then delivering gifts on Christmas. They included loan officer Keith King, insurance dealer Keith Cottrell, furniture dealer Jack Rall and creamery operator W.B. “Bill” Richardson. Lumber dealers Albert Tollefsen and J.B. Elliott joined in, as did their sons, Ed Tollefsen and Joe Elliott.

Gunnar Mattson was first to map out the city into routes for the one-day drive.

The Tollefsens and Elliotts weren’t the only Goodfellows families. Insurance dealer Robert Hazlett was a Goodfellow. His son-in-law, insurance dealer Jim Anderson, followed suit.

Retired banker Wayne McKinney, who died in 2019, related these bits of Goodfellows history several years ago. His role with Goodfellows was treasurer. He was proud that, through most of the years he performed that duty, Goodfellows functioned without any outside expenses. That meant that every dollar donated to the organization was spent helping children.

As McKinney’s recollections illustrate, Goodfellows owes its success to a host of personalities. Many business people have supported the cause through the years, and so have a host of individuals and hundreds of volunteers who have made Goodfellows a key part of their holiday celebrations.