Rufus Travis Amis

R.T. Amis circa 1955
Born	13 February 1912 Kansas City, Kansas
Died	12 January 2007 Omaha, Nebraska
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Nationality	American

R.T. and Carolyn Amis circa 1950
R.T. and Carolyn Amis circa 1950
Died	died

Rufus Amis (February 13, 1912 – January 12, 2007) was an American entrepreneur who served as co-founder and CEO of Aero Design and Engineering Company. The company built one of the first twin engine planes for private use in the USA, the Aero Commander. An Aero Commander later became distinguished as the smallest plane ever designated Air Force One when President Dwight Eisenhower began using one in 1956. Rufus Amis was also a co-founder and later President of Missouri Valley Machinery Company, a dealer of Caterpillar Equipment and was instrumental in the development of Bellevue College in Nebraska.

Throughout the early years of his life, Rufus lived with his family on various construction sites. In those days, contractors built large tent camps for their employees and animals on construction sites. Rufus’ mother would supervise the preparation of meals for about 200 men through the construction season. In the late 1920s, Amis Construction won a project in central Kansas near the town of Council Grove. The family located there with their teenaged son for the duration of the project. It was there that Rufus met Carolyn Louise Blim. Married in the heart of the Great Depression in 1932, the couple soon had a son named Travis. Their second son Fred was born in 1944. In 1950 Amis partnered with his cousin John E. Amis of Oklahoma City, OK, to purchase majority shares of Dolese Brothers Company. At the time Dolese Brothers was the largest foundation construction company in the United States.

During the Depression, Rufus and Carolyn lived on construction camp sites across Kansas and Oklahoma. Rufus worked as a foreman and Carolyn helped Rufus’ mother cook for the construction crew. When World War II broke out, they moved to Oklahoma City, where Amis Construction had a number of large contracts. The war years were very profitable for Amis Construction and provided the Amis family with the financial basis for future investments. When R.T. Amis, Sr. retired in the 1940s, Rufus became a minority partner with his brother, W.D. (Bill) Amis. The two built roads and dams all over the western United States. After the war, Amis Construction joined with Kerr McGee Oil Company and McKnight Construction to build and operate the Downtown Airpark in Oklahoma City. Their involvement with aviation led to their being approached to finance a start-up to manufacture a twin-engine private airplane.