Our Roots
When Elmer and Gina first started, it was just their three oldest sons, Bill, Doug, and Bob, who worked full-time at the Bon-Bon in Garden City. They had all graduated from college and worked in other businesses, but they liked their dad’s idea of starting a business and working with each other. The others all helped out, too, and as each of their children graduated from college, they expanded their roles in the company to full-time, and it’s worked incredibly well for them.
Everyone worked long, hard hours in the beginning. Gina baked a lot of cakes and pies for the shops in those days. But nobody seemed to mind because the family was building something special. They moved into foodservice management, serving the Traveler’s Insurance Company. They relocated a few years later, and then the Automobile Association of America (AAA) moved in, and the business just grew and grew from there. Now, with close to 5,000 team members and $500 million in sales, the Whitcomb family isn’t quite sure this was ever what Elmer had expected or even imagined. They don’t think he had foreseen how many others would become involved or the depth of success they would experience together—though he would never have doubted it.
The business has been a blessing for Gina and the Whitcomb family. There was nothing more joyful for her than to come to work every day to see her children and the extended family of team members successfully working together. That was one of the reasons Elmer wanted to start the business—to keep their family together.
Today, many of Gina and Elmer’s sons have since retired, and their beloved daughter Laurie has passed, but each of them has left an indelible mark on the world. Gina is so proud of what they have accomplished together and she knows that their father would be extremely proud of them as well. Gina is sure he’s in Heaven smiling down at them—and at every one of the Whitsons team members.
As Elmer always said: “It all starts with family.” And the Whitsons family continues to grow—it lives on through all of the valued team members.