‘His fingerprints are everywhere in our community’: Springfield leaders reflect on Sam F. Hamra’s life

Descriptors of “community builder” and “business titan” were used in recent days by Springfield leaders to document the life of Sam F. Hamra, a longtime Queen City businessperson whose influence stretched across multiple industries for decades.

An attorney and founder of Hamra Enterprises LLC, Hamra died Aug. 2 at the age of 92. His passing was acknowledged the following day in a public Facebook post by his son, Mike. Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home handled funeral services and burial, which was scheduled for Aug. 10, according to his obituary.

“He loved southwest Missouri and worked to contribute back to the Springfield area, which he and my mom have called home for over 65 years,” Mike Hamra said in the post. “We will all miss him dearly but are grateful for the special and loving relationship of 67 years he had with our mother, and that they were blessed with four children and 10 grandchildren.”

Sam F. Hamra has garnered such honors as the Springfieldian from the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce, the Excellence in Business Award from Ozarks Technical Community College, Key to the City from Springfield Mayor Ken McClure and Lifetime Achievement in Business from Springfield Business Journal.

Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association Executive Director Crista Hogan said Hamra “was one of the most active and supportive members of the SMBA for his entire career.”

“He was instrumental in establishing legal services for the indigent in our community and was a generous patron for Legal Services of Southern Missouri,” Hogan said. “He will be greatly missed and fondly remembered.”

With his wife, June, who he married in April 1956 and survives him, Hamra gave financially to several philanthropic causes and served on the boards of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, OTC, Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, CoxHealth and other organizations. The office of Legal Services of Southern Missouri, for which he was instrumental in its formation, was named the Sam F. Hamra Center for Justice in 2012.

Community love
Former Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce President Jim Anderson said he first met Hamra in the early 1970s at the city’s annual Jackson Day, a conference held by the Democratic Party. Anderson said politics was one of Hamra’s passions. The businessperson built a reputation as a successful fundraiser and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1972, 1980 and 1984, according to past SBJ reporting. He also worked on state and federal campaigns, including as finance chairman for Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.

“I would see him at various events prior to me moving here in ’88,” Anderson said, noting the year was when he became the chamber president – a position he would hold for 26 years. “There’s no question he loved Springfield. His fingerprints are everywhere in our community.”

Aside from being a great storyteller and connector of people across the community, Anderson said Hamra was “bigger than life.”

“He was an unbelievable people person. I don’t think Sam ever met a stranger,” Anderson said. “If there was an event, you’d see Sam working the crowd. He did that all the time.”

Mayor McClure issued his condolences to Hamra’s family in a statement the day after his passing.

“Sam was a community builder and expressed his love for southwest Missouri by continually contributing to the Springfield area,” McClure said. “Sam was one-of-a-kind and made an impact on so many aspects of Springfield.”

Born and raised in the Missouri Bootheel town of Steele, Hamra arrived in Springfield in 1959 armed with a University of Missouri law degree, according to past reporting. His law career took him to private practice with various partners, as well as service as government relations attorney for the city of Branson and as Nixa city attorney. In Branson, 1991-2005, he was instrumental in obtaining federal and state funding for the construction of four lanes on Highway 65 from Christian County south to Branson, and he helped secure $50 million in tax increment financing for the $420 million Branson Landing outdoor retail center.

Known for introducing Springfield to Wendy’s square hamburgers and the chocolate Frosty in the 1970s, Hamra later earned international acclaim with the 2009 R. David Thomas Founder’s Award, which is presented annually to the outstanding franchisee across the Wendy’s system worldwide. Hamra passed the president and CEO role to his son, Mike, in 2011.

In his 2010 Lifetime Achievement in Business profile, Hamra credited his father for his work ethic.

“He taught us without ever saying it but example setting that you work hard, make your money and give back to your community and your country,” Hamra said in 2010.

The Springfield-based company has nearly 200 restaurants in 11 states under the Wendy’s, Panera, Noodles and Co. and Caribou Coffee brands. Roughly 1,830 of Hamra Enterprises’ 7,400 employees work in Missouri, according to company officials.

“I was scared to death. I didn’t know anything about the restaurant business,” Hamra said in a 2017 video interview series with SBJLive, a former venture of SBJ. “Sure enough, we did pretty good there.”

As for overseeing so many stores from afar, Hamra said his philosophy was a simple one.

“It’s surrounding myself with the best capable people I can find – honest, trustworthy, hard workers,” he said. “That’s what I try to find. We’ve been able to successfully do that over the years.”

He credits Bill Turner, Great Southern Bank’s founder, for helping fund his first Wendy’s store, which opened in 1976.

“Bill Turner made my first loan on the building,” he said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t have gotten started. No bank would have talked to us in those days.”

Lasting impact
Like Anderson, Lisa Alexander, president of the CoxHealth Foundation, said politics led her to first meet Hamra. She interviewed him when she was a reporter for KSPR, covering a story involving the Greene County Democratic Party. However, it wasn’t until 1995 when she came to CoxHealth that she began to interact with him more. Hamra served on the CoxHealth Board of Directors from 1986-2010, including time as its chair in 1995 and 1996.

“It’s almost hard to put into words how impactful Sam Hamra had been on CoxHealth,” she said, noting he was instrumental in securing the property that now houses the Meyer Orthopedic campus. “That commitment to the Cox board is huge. It was multiple, multiple meetings a month. And he never missed a meeting. Sam was always there. He was always participating. He just was a man that when he was committed to something, he was committed 150%.”

The Hamra Center, the health system’s clinic which opened last year at the southwest corner of Sunshine Street and National Avenue, is named after Hamra and his wife. Alexander said she remembers telling him a couple years ago about the clinic, which houses the CoxHealth Advantage Care clinic and urgent care meant to improve access for patients of all ages in central Springfield.

“He’s like, ‘Lisa, you don’t even have to say another word to me, because I’m in, I want to be a part of this. I want to make this happen. What do you need?’ That was always his response,” she said.

Alexander recalled that Hamra attended the clinic’s ribbon-cutting and had coupons for free Wendy’s Frostys for all the staff. He also frequently distributed the coupons at the board meetings.

As a tribute to him, she said the Hamra Center staff held a Frosty party on Aug. 6.

Another Springfield location that dons the Hamra name is on OTC’s campus. The Springfield Hamra Library was named in honor of the couple’s financial contributions to the college, said OTC Chancellor Hal Higdon.

Noting Hamra served on the OTC Foundation Board of Directors for 15 years, Higdon said he was a great supporter of the college, adding Hamra Enterprises has long sponsored a foundation golf tournament. Proceeds from the tournament go to student scholarships.

“He was always someone who reached out regularly,” Higdon said, adding Hamra was a good friend of his for about 18 years. “I’ve had many dinners with Sam and June and just got to know them.

“Sam stayed vital right to the end and was always involved and always interested in what was going on at OTC and what was going on with our students.”

Anderson said Hamra loved to have his picture taken with dignitaries, which included entertainer Bob Hope, who came to Springfield in 1976 and cut the ribbon to Springfield’s second Wendy’s restaurant.

However, he also remembers a photo Hamra wanted of the two of them on a visit years ago to a Wendy’s at Lake of the Ozarks. Anderson suggested they stop at the store – one owned by Hamra Enterprises – while passing through and he said he’d treat Hamra to lunch. The idea so tickled Hamra that he insisted on taking a photo to commemorate the occasion.

It’s a small but meaningful moment for Anderson when remembering the life of his friend.

“He’s going to be sorely missed but God, does he leave a legacy,” he said. “It’s unbelievable.”

Editors Geoff Pickle and Christine Temple contributed.