Dave Longaberger

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Dave Longaberger

David H. "Dave" Longaberger (1934 – 1999) was a businessman and the founder of The Longaberger Company, makers of handcrafted maple wood baskets and accessories. Dave has two daughters, Tami Longaberger, who is CEO of The Longaberger Company, and Rachel Longaberger Stukey, President of the Longaberger Foundation.

Dave's life is chronicled in his autobiography, "Longaberger: An American Success Story", co-written with Robert Shook. He is also the author of "The Longaberger Story: And How We Did It".

Dave Longaberger died in 1999 from renal cancer.

A Great Man, A Humble Beginning

Dave Longaberger was not born to wealth and fame. Dave grew up in a poverty stricken family of 14 with only a single bathroom in the home (source: The Longaberger Story). He suffered from a stuttering problem and epilepsy, both of which he overcame. As a child Dave worked to help support his family. He would take any job he could find as a boy and work as hard as he could. After a time the industrial spirit of the boy earned him the nickname “the Ten Cent Millionaire.” This work ethic never left Dave even as he became throughout the 1970s and 1980s a very prosperous local businessman owning a restaurant and a local IGA grocery.

Dave eventually gave up the restaurant and the grocery in order to found the Longaberger Basket Company. The company went on to become the most successful hand crafted basket making company in the world. Dave maintained a “hands on” approach to his business and never gave up working hard. Only illness and unfortunately death were able to stop this indomitable man who gave so much of himself all his life. He will be greatly missed by friends, family and all those who knew and admired him. He leaves behind a legacy that proves if you work hard you will succeed.

Dave Longaberger - Legacy

Dave Longaberger was not just a businessman interested in making money. He was also a great philanthropist and his concern for his community was evident in the money, effort and time he donated to his community in and around Dresden, Ohio. Dave gave millions of dollars to the local community, schools and provided much needed services to the community. He was interested in history, when he first started selling baskets he made a deal with historic Roscoe Village Coshocton Ohio, to sell them there. Knowing that hand crafted baskets fit nicely into the historic nature of the non-profit organization that maintained and operated Roscoe Village Coshocton Ohio, it was a perfect fit.

Later, after he became prosperous Dave's love of history came to the surface as he undertook the restoration of many local historic buildings in the Dresden, Ohio, area. Some of the buildings he saved were:

The Captains House (1850), The Dresden Hotel (early 20th century), The Dresden Iron Mill (circa 1880), The Dresden Woolen Mill (circa 1890), The Prospect Place mansion (1856), The Cox House, Trinway (circa 1900), The Dresden railway station.

Dave also purchased and refurbished many other historic buildings on Main Street in Dresden, Ohio. This spurred a restoration boom as private owners then began themselves to look at their old homes and started restoring them as well. Dave's good works will not soon be forgotten by the Dresden community who still remember the “ten cent millionaire” with admiration and respect.