R. Crosby Kemper Jr. dies at age 86

• Janet Rogers/UMKC
• R. Crosby Kemper Jr. receives an honorary degree from UMKC Chancellor Leo Morton in May 2013

R. Crosby Kemper Jr., the longtime Kansas City banker who used his money and influence for various local causes, died in California on Thursday.

Kemper was 86.

Kemper led UMB Financial Corporation, historically regarded as one of the better-run banking institutions in the region.

But Kemper’s local fame wasn’t tied as much to running UMB as to what he did with the wealth that the bank afforded him. He once offered up $3 million to become an investor with New York attorney Miles Prentice’s bid to buy the Kansas City Royals in the late 1990s. Kemper didn’t care much for baseball, but thought keeping the Royals in town was a good idea.

“I told (Prentice) I’d support him in his efforts and be an investor,” Kemper told The Kansas City Star in August 1998. “I don’t know to what extent yet, because I’ve just decided to do it this morning.”

Miles was eventually blocked from buying the Royals, and the team eventually wound up in the hands of David Glass, a Wal-Mart executive who has barely enjoyed success since taking over the team. Many Royals fans have reasonably wondered over the years whether the team would have fared better from having Prentice own the team with investors such as Kemper.

Kemper’s rescue of other civic endeavors may provide a clue. Kemper wrote the check in the 1970s that allowed a West Bottoms arena to get built and later adorn his family’s name. While Kemper Arena today is a drab, aging structure that some (including members of the Kemper family) would like to see torn town, it hosted the Big 12 basketball championships for several years until Sprint Center got built, as well as the Kansas City Scouts and Kansas City Kings for a time.

Kemper also pledged his money in the early 1980s to revive the Kansas City Philharmonic, which today lives on as the Kansas City Symphony. He also led a fundraising drive that included millions of his own money around that time to remodel what was then the Vista Hotel at 12th Street and Wyandotte, which today is the Marriott Hotel Downtown Kansas City.

Kemper’s son is R. Crosby Kemper III, the CEO of the Kansas City Public Library.