FRANK VONDRA
Class of 1960
Inducted in 2014 |
Frank was inducted into the SHSAA Hall of Fame in 2014.
Frank Vondra played basketball and track while at SHS and played football at Hastings College. He left college to attend IBM Business School and worked at Union Pacific Railroad in the IBM freight department. He later became a sales manager for the Williamson Dickie Manufacturing Co. The company helped open Wal-Mart Stores, Pamida and Alco groups. He grew sales at a rapid pace and was promoted to North Central Regional Manager, then East Coast Sales Manager and finally National Sales Manager for the entire United States territory. He was a major factor in introducing Six Sigma managing (a set of techniques and tools for process improvement) to the company and having computers placed with sales personnel. He was part of a team that built a new state-of-the-art warehouse in Texas and later in Mexico. He worked with overseas accounts and added distribution to Mexico, Japan, the Philippines, New Zealand, England, France, Germany, Italy, Bahrain and South Africa. He eventually added product licenses for women’s work-ware accessories. During his last year with the firm, he shipped over $450 million in products to the United States. He was nominated Salesperson of the Year 11 times, was named top shipper and top accounts person 11 times, and Sales Manager of the Year five times. He retired after 29 years of service. Frank’s volunteer work included coaching Little League Baseball and serving as an active member of the Hands of Christ Project – a group that builds and repairs homes for the needy. He also served as a Bible Study leader and worked in the Parents Awareness Group in various high schools in the Fort Worth, TX area. He credits SHS for the foundations to his family, religious and business life. He feels he was blessed by those four years at SHS. |