Malcolm Stephenson: From salesman to sporting goods entrepreneur

During the 1920s and 1930s, Malcolm Stephenson worked several jobs to save money for college to become a journalist.

But Stephenson, the cofounder of the former Gopher Athletic Supply Co., never made it to college because of the Great Depression. He died on June 14 in St. Paul. He was 95.

In 1915, his family moved to the Worthington area, where he would graduate from Worthington High School in 1931.

"Times were tough," said his daughter, Cindy Toppin of Hastings. Stephenson worked in a filling station, hoed rows of sugar beets, and drove cars from the Ford plant in St. Paul to Worthington for a car dealer.

After the family moved to Albert Lea, a house fire put the family in more financial straits, and his college fund was used to help out.

During the 1930s and the early 1940s, he worked as a traveling salesman of sporting goods, and in 1947, he and his partner, Jim Pofahl, started the Gopher firm in Owatonna.

The duo would hit the road, first hawking their wares around southern Minnesota. After a long day on the road, they would return home, pack up their orders and ship them to buyers.

He may have been the first to publish a sporting goods catalogue, beginning in the 1950s, eventually reaching customers all over the nation.

Getting the Gopher catalogue was just like "Christmas" to a young parks and recreation staffer, and made outfitting athletes easier, said Bruce Anderson, parks and recreation director for Oakdale.

"It was kind of fun to see 20 kinds of basketballs," said Anderson. "It was a great piece."

Pofahl, who had played Major League Baseball for the Washington Senators, died in 1984.

Stephenson supported girls' and women's athletics, realizing as early as the 1960s that they deserved sales service as much as their male counterparts, said Dorothy McIntyre, retired associate director of the Minnesota State High School League.

He once had to order his salesmen, who had balked, to call on women educators and coaches, she said.

McIntyre said Stephenson got an early education from his wife about fairness. She was a member of the championship Grand Meadow High School basketball team.

They sold the business in 1975, and later, the firm's name was changed to Gopher Sport.

Stephenson led many professional and Owatonna civic organizations. He realized his journalistic dream by writing a column for the Owatonna People's Press for 15 years in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 2000, he and his wife were in a serious auto accident. Both had arduous recoveries, and used their experiences to create a resource directory for seniors who need assistance.

He was "persistent in the face of adversity," said his daughter.

His wife of 66 years died in February.

In addition to Cindy, he is survived by another daughter, Judy Probst of St. Paul; a son, Jim of Trinidad, Calif.; a sister, Marion Traurig of New Ulm, Minn.; seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Services will be held at 11 a.m., July 18, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Owatonna, with visitation at 10 a.m. at the church.