Manford O. Lee

(1911-1982) born near Indianola, Red Willow County, lived in Stockville and Curtis, Frontier County. Textile company executive, was an innovative leader from 1942 to 1982 with Vanity Fair Mills (renamed the VF Corporation in 1969), which has now grown from a maker of lingerie to one of the world's largest publicly-owned apparel companies; he was instrumental in the conversion of production from rayon to nylon in the late 1940s, and began as CEO diversifying the Corporation's operations, including acquisition of the Lee Company, maker of jeanswear, and expanding into international markets. Consult Sunday /Omaha/ World Herald Magazine of the Midlands, March 12, 1972, pp. 22, 24-25 and Reading /PA/ Eagle obituary, March 5, 1982, pp. 1, 15 and Who Was Who in America, Vol 8 (1985) 240 and International Directory of Company Histories, Vol 5 (St. James Press, 1992) 390-392.

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