Wyoming Benjamin Paris (1906-2001)

 

From the Wichita Beacon, July 31, 1972.

  The name would be Wyoming B. Paris. A curious name at that, and hiding behind that name lies the colorful story of a man who rose from humble origins in Wyoming to become a widely known semipro basketball player of the 1920s and 30s. He later served his country in the Marines during WWII, and following his service was a mausoleum sales manager residing in Pennsylvania and Kansas. After removing to the latter state in the early 1960s he resided in Wichita, and in 1972 was a candidate for U.S. Representative in that year's Democratic primary. 

  Wyoming Benjamin Paris's story begins, appropriately enough, in Wyoming, where he was born on October 3, 1906, the son of Samuel and Rachel Paris. Paris's unusual first name was later explained in his 2001 obituary, which notes:

"His given name stemmed from being the first Jewish baby born in the state of Wyoming, where his parents, Ukrainian immigrants, lived on a sheep farm."

  Little is known of Paris's formative years or education, except a census notice from 1910 denoting his family's residence in Torrington, Wyoming. By the late 1910s he and his family were residing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and in 1921 he was a student at the Franklin School. Paris would soon gain distinction on the basketball court in Pittsburgh, and around 1919 he, his brother, and several other Jewish friends formed the Enoch Rauh Club, which was later highlighted in Paris's 2001 obituary as "the state's premier semipro squad." Paris's time on the court saw him wearing an aluminum face mask following a broken nose (received in a 1927 game) and was bestowed the moniker "the Masked Marvel" by local sportswriters. Following his service in WWII Paris became coach of a group of ex-college players, the Altoona Flyers, in the All-American Basketball League. The duration of Paris's coaching career remains uncertain, and his Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that he:

"Once spent a night in jail after a brawl in Uniontown precipitated by a diner's refusal to serve one of Mr. Paris's players, who was black."

  Wyoming Paris married in 1930 to Claire Gill (1908-1994), to whom he was wed for over sixty years. The couple's long union produced three children, Barry, Wyoming Jr., and Pamela. Following his marriage Paris served during WWII, "training with the Marines at Parris Island, S.C." in early 1945. After his military service, Paris achieved distinction in the field of mausoleum programming, and was "recognized as one of the nation's foremost sales experts in modern mausoleum operations." Through his work, Paris was connected with the Allegany Cemetery of Pittsburgh, where he aided in the development of "a 6,000 crypt building, including a chapel", and was a consultant and director on the Roosevelt Memorial Park program in Pittsburgh:

"Where plans for the largest mausoleum in the eastern United States has been announced for building of 16,000 spaces and a chapel within a mausoleum to cost approximately $7,000,000."

From the Wichita Beacon, December 19, 1961.

   Paris's work in mausoleum programming eventually took him to Wichita, Kansas, where he and his family settled in the early 1960s. Following his move he became sales manager for the Mission Chapel Mausoleum. 

  In the years after his resettlement the name of Wyoming Paris grew to be a prominent one in Wichita, and in 1972 made his first move into politics, announcing his candidacy for U.S. Representative from Kansas's 4th district. Running in that year's Democratic primary, Paris was one of several candidates that year, and was remarked as a "Democrat who proposed nationalizing the big oil companies." Throughout the summer of 1972 notices on Paris's candidacy appeared in Wichita newspapers, and in July 1972 he spoke before the local women's political caucus, where he labeled the Nixon administration as one of the most anti-labor presidencies in the country's history. Paris went on to remark:

"His wage controls on labor have been harsh and punitive, while he has put no lid at all on the amount of corporate profits to be earned by the rich, or on interest rates...McGovern is the labor candidate of this country, just as I am the only labor candidate for a U.S. Congressional seat from Kansas."

From the Wichita Beacon, July 31, 1972.

   Further particulars of Paris's campaign note that he found the salary of a U.S. Congressman (then $42,000) excessive, and made a campaign promise that he would donate $5,000 of his own salary "to help needy students go to college."  On primary election day, August 1, 1972, Wyoming Paris placed second in the vote count, polling 7,400 votes to winning candidate John B. Steven's total of 13,911. Stevens, in turn, would go on to lose the general election to six-term incumbent Republican Garner E. Shriver, who had served in Congress since 1960. 

   In the decades following his congressional run Paris continued residency in Wichita and in 1990 was honored with an induction to the Western Pennsylvania Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, due to his basketball career many decades before. Paris and his wife attended the event in Pittsburgh and also celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary during their visit. Widowed in 1994, Paris celebrated his 90th birthday in 1997 and died aged 94 on May 21, 2001, in Wichita. He was survived by his three children and was interred at the Mission Chapel Mausoleum.

From the Wichita Beacon, September 23, 1962.