The West Foundation

LEGACIES

Harold B. West Founder (1892-1954)

Harold B. West was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1892. He began showing his entrepreneurial talent at an early age, establishing his first business venture with a carrying route for the Saturday Evening Post, later acquiring a series of routes all over his hometown and hiring other boys to deliver the periodical. Following high school, Mr. West attended the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, working his way through college as a tutor, and completing the Wharton School of Business four-year program in three years. (more…)

Hilda K. West (1898-1984)

Hilda K. West (nee Kirkman) was born in Richmond, Indiana in 1898. The daughter of Indiana state senator Roscoe Kirkman, and suffragette and temperance advocate Ginevra Hill Kirkman, she held the position of organist at Second Lutheran Church in Richmond at age 14, and was valedictorian of the Richmond High School Class of 1915 at 16 years of age. She graduated from Indiana University in 1920 as a member of Delta Gamma Sorority and Mu Phi music sorority as well as being concertmistress of the Indiana University Symphony Orchestra. (more…)

Stephen R. West (1931-2010)

Following his childhood in Indianapolis, Mr. West attended Carleton College, graduating cum laude in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a minor in government. Following two years of military service as a corporal in the U.S. Army, he attended Harvard University, earning a Master of Business Administration degree in 1957. Upon graduation, Mr. West returned to Indianapolis to assume the positions of Vice President and Treasurer of West Baking, Inc. (more…)