Omar Knedlik

Omar S. Knedlik (December 21, 1916 – March 14, 1989) was an American inventor and businessman.

He owned several hotels before moving to Coffeyville, Kansas, where he became the owner of a Dairy Queen in the late-1950s.

[1][2] Knedlik did not have a soda fountain, so he served semi-frozen bottled soft drinks.

He found that they were immensely popular, so he worked with a Dallas company to develop the ICEE machine.

He moved his family from Coffeyville to Joplin, Missouri in 1983, when Knedlik developed kidney problems and needed dialysis.