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MILKING IT
DeCoursey Family Made Its Dairy Business Last

by Beccy Tanner, The Wichita Eagle, January 26, 1995, p. 5E

James H. DeCoursey ¹ founded his family's dairy in 1870. Eventually the family owned business grew and spread to eight dairies in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

For years, the DeCoursey Dairy was more than a household name in Wichita, it served as the foundation stone for other Kansas dairies. Beginning in 1870, on a farm near Leavenworth, James DeCoursey started the first dairy in Kansas. Eventually the family-owned business grew and spread to eight dairies in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri.

But of those dairies, the family's business centered primarily in Leavenworth, Kansas City and Wichita. In Wichita, DeCoursey Cream Co. was a familiar name that competed for customers along with Steffen, Hyde Park Dairy, Linwood Dairy and Meadow Gold Co. In 1965, it was merged with Armstrong Creamery Co. as independent subsidiaries of Tip Top Dairies in Hillsboro.

The Wichita Eagle on July 2, 1961, said of Wichita's DeCoursey plant that it was established in 1919 and "is believed to be the first to be opened in Wichita. There had been ice cream plants in Wichita prior to that time, but the DeCourseys had the first fluid milk dairy."

It was big news back in 1944 when DeCoursey announced it was changing the shape of its milk bottles. The Wichita Eagle said on Dec. 31, 1944: "The DeCoursey Cream Company is now offering the milk in a square bottle." The company's general manager, S.J. Cotter proudly said, "These bottles, known as 'HandiSquares,' have several advantages over the round container, the most important of which is space economy. It is possible with the 'HandiSquare' to store from 20 to 50 percent more milk in refrigerators."

For Wichitans in the midst of wartime, the news was particularly important because the milk deliveries had been scaled back and the space-saving feature meant that housewives could buy more milk at a time.

In February 1966, The Wichita Beacon reported that the building in which the Wichita DeCoursey Cream Co. was housed at 1901 E. Douglas was being razed.

The DeCoursey family names, through the nearly 100 years the family operated their business, included Frank C. DeCoursey, who was born in 1885. He was a grandson to the founder, James DeCoursey. Frank and his brothers, James and William, were instrumental in the family's Wichita dairy operations from its beginning. Frank C. DeCoursey's son, Frank E. DeCoursey, was born in 1916 and also was actively involved in the Wichita dairy. Frank E. DeCoursey eventually became director of the Commercial National Bank in Kansas City, Kan., and was a member of the Wichita City Council and the Chamber of Commerce.

Another family member, Vincent W. DeCoursey, was born on Sept. 23, 1917. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, Vincent joined the family business and eventually became its manager. His first job with the plant was as a bottle washer.

¹ Should be James W. James H wasn�t born until 1883.

From "The DeCoursey Family", compiled by Aileen Colitti, 1995 Transcribed by Erica DeCoursey 2002