Thomas Elmer Braniff

Thomas Elmer Braniff (December 6, 1883 – January 10, 1954) was an American entrepreneur. He was a co-founder of Braniff International Airways, along with his brother Paul Revere Braniff. Known as Tom Braniff, he was also a noted insurance pioneer in Oklahoma. In 1928 he formed Paul R. Braniff, Inc., with his brother Paul Braniff, to operate schedule air carrier flights between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Early years and family

Thomas Elmer Braniff was born on December 6, 1883, in Salina, Kansas. He was the oldest of six children that included his younger brother Paul, as well as two other brothers and two sisters. His parents were John A. Braniff (father) and Mary Catherine Baker Braniff (mother). His father was an early pioneer settler in Kansas having moved to the region from the Altoona, Pennsylvania area where he was a farmer. Tom's family was of Irish ancestry, with his grandfather Patrick Braniff, having migrated to the United States from Ireland in approximately 1800.

From this agency Tom sold fire and tornado insurance. Oklahoma, known for its violent tornadoes, spawned a twister that wiped out the fledgling agency as well as the insurance company that had to pay the claims. The tornado hit the Bridgeport settlement late at night destroying much of the town. Young Tom had sold many policies, door to door, to the settlers. The claims were too numerous for the agency or the insurance company to survive and Tom Braniff had to start over. Tom used the earnings from his new business to pay off the claims from the Bridgeport tornado that had not already been settled.

In 1938, Braniff had initially looked for an investment banker in New York to help him with a public offering of his stock. However, he was not successful in garnering a banker to market his airline's shares but he did meet with one banker that would be interested if Braniff could prove that there was interest in his shares. As a result of this, Tom started the B Line Club in major cities and offered only 100 shares to each possible investor. He headed to Kansas City where he was well known in the insurance business and sold his first 100 share investment at US$27.50 per share to Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips 66, and an original investor in the 1927 Oklahoma Aero Club.

Honors Knight of Malta and a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of the Catholic Church Granted the title of Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great by Pope Pius XII, in 1944. This is te highest honor that can be bestowed on a layman. Honorary Degree, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas Honorary Degree, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Aviation Man of the Year, 1952, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado In 1966, through a $7,500,000 grant from the foundation to the small private University of Dallas, the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts which included the Braniff School of Management. This grant also made possible the construction of the Braniff Graduate Center Building as well as the Braniff Mall and Memorial Gardens as well as the iconic Braniff Memorial Tower. The Braniff Memorial Tower was dedicated to the memory of Thomas Elmer Braniff and his wife Bess Thurman Braniff.

The flight was operating near sundown which made visibility even worse coupled with the icy conditions. A fast-moving cold front had pushed the icing conditions much further south than had been expected.

Probate of will Thomas Elmer Braniff's Last Will and Testament was filed for probate in Dallas County Probate Court on January 16, 1954. In the will Braniff left Braniff stock to his wife and other family members. He left the remainder of his Braniff stock to key executives of Braniff Airways, with the remainder going to the Blakely Braniff Foundation. He also left special bequests to employees at the Braniff Building in Oklahoma City and E.E. Doggett of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who was in the insurance business with Braniff for over thirty years.