Remembering the First ‘Secret Santa’ of Kansas City
The late Philanthropist Larry Stewart would give away hundreds at Christmastime
Larry Stewart was one of the most generous men who came to be known as the Secret Santa of Kansas City. I remember hearing about him every Christmas through the years. He would always make the news going around handing out $100 bills to people he felt really needed it.
Seeing the reaction of people was so heartwarming. He inspired people with intent.
Larry wasn’t always rich. He was an American Philanthropist who used to be very poor.
He started a company called Network Communications in which independent sales agents from this company would enroll customers to Sprint’s long-distance service. In 1996, Sprint was ordered by an arbitration panel to pay Network’s sales agents $60.9 million for the commission that it owed. Out of that, Larry received $5.2 million.
When Larry was in Houston, Mississippi back in 1971, when he didn’t have a lot, he received free breakfast from the owner of Dixie Diner, Ted Horn. Allegedly Horn influenced Larry because of that free breakfast.
For two years, 1978 and 1979, he lost his job before Christmas. One day Larry was in a restaurant on a day it was cold outside and probably feeling a little sorry for himself. He saw a…
