History
Karl St. John Hoblitzelle was born in St. Louis in 1879. While serving as an event manager at the St. Louis World Fair in his early 20s, Karl Hoblitzelle met performers and concession operators who indicated the south, in particular Texas, lacked venues to showcase their work and talent. Upon the fair’s closing in 1903, Karl Hoblitzelle came to Dallas, Texas with $2,500 and began to build a chain of vaudeville theaters. At its peak, Interstate Theater Company held 160 theaters across Texas and the Southeast. These theaters were soon transformed into movie houses, and the success of this entertainment business created financial resources which he invested in the growing oil and gas, real estate, and banking industries in Texas.
Karl Hoblitzelle married Esther Thomas in 1920, a Broadway starlet who had performed under the name of “Esther Walker” and come to Dallas to perform at one of the theaters. Both were active in the social, civic, and cultural activities of Dallas, and did not have any descendants.
Prudent management of their financial assets resulted in the accumulation of significant wealth, which upon the death of Mrs. Hoblitzelle in 1943 and Mr. Hoblitzelle in 1967, became the corpus of Hoblitzelle Foundation.
For more information about the history of Karl Hoblitzelle, please refer to the book published by Paul W. Harris, President and CEO from 1986-2017:
Karl St. John Hoblitzelle
Esther Thomas Hoblitzelle
Board of Directors
Karen L. Shuford, Chairman
Jere W. Thompson, Jr., Vice Chairman
Holland P. Gary, Treasurer
Rafael M. Anchia
Lydia H. Novakov
Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D.
Michael S. Rawlings
Catherine M. Rose
Lizzie H. Routman
Honorary Lifetime Directors
Linda P. Custard
John W. Dayton
Paul W. Harris
Caren H. Prothro
Deedie Potter Rose
George A. Shafer
William T. Solomon
Kern Wildenthal, M.D., Ph.D.
J. McDonald (Don) Williams
Staff
president & CEO
Katie Robbins
Katie’s connection with Hoblitzelle Foundation began well before her actual employment date in 2016. Katie’s grandfather, Lynn Harris, began working for Mr. Hoblitzelle’s theater company as an usher at the Majestic Theater in the late 1920s. Lynn ultimately supported Mr. Hoblitzelle in many ways, including working on foundation business. Upon Lynn’s retirement in 1986, Katie’s father Paul W. Harris began working for the foundation, creating this treasured generational connection. Paul retired at the end of 2017, and Katie was named President and CEO effective January 1, 2018.
Katie spent over twenty years in nonprofit finance and accounting, is a Magna Cum Laude graduate from Texas A&M University and earned her MBA at Southern Methodist University. Katie currently serves on the boards of AT&T Performing Arts Center, Communities Foundation of Texas, Florence Foundation, Philanthropy Southwest, Southwestern Medical Foundation, and The Arts Cultural Alliance (TACA). She formerly served on the board of Junior League of Dallas and is past chair of Parkland Foundation.
