Dwayne Andreas

Decatur lost one of its titans today.

Dwayne Orville Andreas was born on March 4, 1918, near Worthington, Minn., to Mennonite farmers. He dropped out of Wheaton College in Illinois to help his father and older brothers take over a bankrupt grain and feed business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company, Honeymead, prospered, and in 1945 the family sold most of its assets to Cargill, a Minneapolis commodities firm that is now one of ADM’s biggest competitors.

In 1965, the family bought 100,000 shares in what was then Minneapolis-based Archer Daniels Midland. Mr. Andreas became a director in 1966. Three years later, he moved the company’s headquarters to Decatur.

And the rest is history.

Out for now.......

Matt