In Omaha, the Eppley name is mostly recognized in conjunction with the Eppley Airfield, the most prominent airport in Nebraska. However, Eugene (Gene) Eppley, for whom the airport is named, began his career in a different aspect of travel: hotels.
Born in Akron, Ohio, on April 8, 1884, Eugene C. Eppley earned his wealth as a successful hotel magnate. He kickstarted his fate with his first purchase of a hotel in Canton, Ohio, at the young age of 19. The budding entrepreneur formed the Eppley Hotel Company in 1917 and eventually grew it to 22 hotels in six states (Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky). By the company’s peak in the 1950s, Eppley could boast that he had established the largest privately-owned hotel chain in the United States. In 1956, just two years before his death, Eppley sold his company to Sheraton Hotels for $30 million—an equivalent of nearly $346 million by today’s accounting.
The purchase of Hotel Fontenelle in 1920 led to Eppley settling in Omaha, where he lived until his death in 1958 at the age of 74. During his time in Omaha, Eppley was well-known throughout the city for his philanthropic efforts, including his involvement with the local organization Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, for which he was elected King of the Court in 1932. According to Eppley’s biographer, Harl Dalstrom, who published “Eugene C. Eppley: His Life and Legacy” in 1969, “he was acquisitive and altruistic, proud and modest, but beneath it all humble and compassionate…he taught and inspired and disciplined…but exacted more of himself than any other.”
The Eugene C. Eppley Foundation, established in 1949, contributed substantial donations to educational, civic, and healthcare causes throughout the midwest. Benefactors of the foundation included the Omaha University (now University of Nebraska at Omaha), the University of Nebraska College of Medicine (now the University of Nebraska Medical Center), the Gene Eppley Boys Club in North Omaha, and the Smithsonian Institution. The Eppley Foundation still stands as the largest donor to the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
The foundation also donated $2,250,000 in 1967 (over $21 million today) to the City of Omaha and Douglas County for their city office downtown. Its $1-million donation to renovate the Omaha Municipal Airport in 1960 (over $10.5 million today) led to the renaming of the airport to “Eppley Airfield” to reflect his largesse.
These charitable actions on behalf of Eppley’s foundation give credence to his generous character. As Dalstrom wrote, “his life seemed a struggle to keep his soft side from showing.”
Eppley was a well-liked, charitable man who cared about the Omaha community and gave as much as he could to causes in which he believed. In his honor, the Eppley name adorns many buildings and organizations around the city, including the Eppley Airfield, Eppley Administration Building at UNO, Eppley College of Business Administration at Creighton University, Eppley Recreation Center at Omaha Home for Boys, Eppley Boys Club, Eppley Salvation Army Camp, and the Eppley Pachyderm Hill at the Henry Doorly Zoo. All in all, Eppley donated over $25 million (over $329 million today) to these organizations and others in the midwest.
“He was an organizer, leader, teacher, fighter, talker and giver,” Dalstrom wrote. “All of his facets added up to a rather heroic figure.”
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
