List of people from St. Joseph, Missouri

Last updated May 22, 2025

This is a list of notable people born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with the city of St. Joseph, Missouri.

Don Alt (1916–1988), Iowa state representative and businessman; born in St. Joseph^[1]
Charles S. L. Baker (1859–1926), African American businessman and inventor, lived in St. Joseph.
Kay Barnes (b. 1938), mayor of Kansas City 1999–2007
Stephen Nikola Bartulica (b. 1970), Croatian politician, MEP for Croatia (since 2024)
Dwayne Blakley (b. 1979), football player, born in St. Joseph^[2]
Ryan Bradley (b. 1983), figure skater
Norbert Brodine, cinematographer
Byron Browne, baseball player
Charles Francis Buddy, bishop, attended Christian Brothers School
Rob Calloway, boxer
Harold F. Cherniss, historian of ancient Greece and Plato scholar at Princeton
Orson L. Crandall, naval officer, Navy master diver, Medal of Honor recipient^[3]
Walter Cronkite, iconic television journalist, born in St. Joseph
Paul Crouch, founder of Trinity Broadcasting Network
Katherine Kennicott Davis, composer of "The Little Drummer Boy"
Eminem, rapper and songwriter, born in St. Joseph
Eugene Field, popular poet in his day, worked for the St. Joseph Gazette
Harold K. Forsen, nuclear physicist
Ralph D. Foster, broadcasting pioneer
Betty Garrett, actress, born in St. Joseph
Elijah Gates, state treasurer of Missouri
Anthony Glise, guitarist
Jody Hamilton, wrestler
Larry Hamilton, wrestler
Fred Harman, artist, born in St. Joseph
Coleman Hawkins, jazz saxophonist^[4]
Shere Hite, sex educator
Edie Huggins, television journalist^[5]
Bela M. Hughes (1817–1903), pioneer, prominent St. Joseph lawyer^[6]
William Hyde (1836–1898), journalist
Lucie Fulton Isaacs, writer, philanthropist, suffragist
Jesse James, iconic outlaw, murdered in St. Joseph
Kagney Linn Karter, porn actress
Henry Krug, founded Krug Packing Company, gave Krug Park to the City
Brian McDonald, writer^[7]
Louise Davis McMahon (1873–1966), philanthropist^[8]
Jeff Morris, actor, born in St. Joseph
Timothy Omundson, actor
Mary Alicia Owen, Missouri folklorist
Isaac Parker, judge
Travis Partridge, football player
Forrest E. Peden, decorated World War II soldier
Benjamin F. Peery, physicist, astronomer and professor
Tom Pendergast, political boss
Seraphine Eppstein Pisko, executive secretary of the Denver Jewish Hospital
Frank Posegate, mayor of St. Joseph
LeRoy Prinz, choreographer and film director
Arthur Pryor, trombonist
Randy Railsback, member of the Missouri House of Representatives
Sid Rogell, Hollywood producer
Nellie Tayloe Ross, first woman elected governor of a U.S. state - Wyoming^[9]
Martin Rucker, football player
Martin T. Rucker, politician
Mike Rucker, football player
Jay Sarno, hotel mogul, founder of Caesars Palace
Bill Snyder, Kansas State football coach
Eddie Timanus, Jeopardy! champion, won five times in 1999 despite being blind
Steve Walsh, musician of band Kansas
Ruth Warrick, actress, known for Citizen Kane and All My Children
James H. Webb, U.S. senator from Virginia, born in St. Joseph
Silas Woodson (1819–1896), 21st governor of Missouri, prominent St. Joseph lawyer^[6]
Huston Wyeth, industrialist
Jane Wyman, Oscar–winning actress and first wife of Ronald Reagan, born in St. Joseph
Delmer J. Yoakum (1915–1996), artist
Olive Young, born in St. Joseph; actress and blues singer

References

↑ "Don D. Alt," The Des Moines Register, August 31, 1988, pg.7M
↑ "Dwayne Blakley". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
↑ "Naval History and Heritage Command" . Retrieved February 17, 2022.
↑ Coleman Hawkins Biography, biography.com Retrieved October 27, 2012
↑ Dribben, Melissa (July 30, 2008). "Edie Huggins 1935-2008: A versatile, dogged, endearing NBC10 face". Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.
1 2 Christensen, Lawrence O.; Foley, William E.; Kramer, Gary R.; Winn, Kenneth H. (1999). Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. p. 813. ISBN 9780826212221.
↑ "Interview with Brian McDonald, part 1". Adelaide Screenwriter. Retrieved January 31, 2014.
↑ Brown, Opal Hartsell (1994). Indomitable Oklahoma Women. Oklahoma Heritage Association. ISBN 978-0-86546-088-1.
↑ "Wyoming Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 14, 2013.

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[1] "Don D. Alt," The Des Moines Register, August 31, 1988, pg.7M

[2] "Dwayne Blakley". databaseFootball.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012. Retrieved September 29, 2012.

[3] "Naval History and Heritage Command" . Retrieved February 17, 2022.

[4] Coleman Hawkins Biography, biography.com Retrieved October 27, 2012

[pi2-5] Dribben, Melissa (July 30, 2008). "Edie Huggins 1935-2008: A versatile, dogged, endearing NBC10 face". Philadelphia Inquirer . Archived from the original on August 1, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2008.

[dictionaryMO2-6] 1 2 Christensen, Lawrence O.; Foley, William E.; Kramer, Gary R.; Winn, Kenneth H. (1999). Dictionary of Missouri Biography. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press. p. 813. ISBN 9780826212221.

[7] "Interview with Brian McDonald, part 1". Adelaide Screenwriter. Retrieved January 31, 2014.

[:2-8] Brown, Opal Hartsell (1994). Indomitable Oklahoma Women. Oklahoma Heritage Association. ISBN 978-0-86546-088-1.

[9] "Wyoming Governor Nellie Tayloe Ross". National Governors Association. Retrieved October 14, 2013.

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