Born and raised in the Deep South, Thomas E. Rand built his success in Chicago, a northern haven from the segregation he experienced as a boy. Yet no color bar existed in the eyes of this African-American businessman. “To him, all people were people,” said one of his sons, Everett. “The only color he saw was the green of the dollar.” Mr. Rand, 85, an entrepreneur and founder of Midway Wholesalers Inc., a beverage distributor, died of Alzheimer’s disease Wednesday, Aug. 25, at Chicago’s South Shore Hospital. He was born in Lodi, Texas, near the Louisiana and Arkansas borders. Mr. Rand attended high school in Little Rock, where he later majored in business at Philander Smith College. After two years in the Army during World War II, he made his way to Chicago. He started his first venture, a billiards and recreation room, at 55th and State Streets. In the 1950s, Mr. Rand went into retail. He began operating as a beverage wholesaler in the ’70s, his son said. His holdings also included food distribution, imports-exports and manufacturing. Other survivors include his second wife, Geneva Mansaw; a son, Timothy; and seven grandchildren. His first wife, Maude, and a third son, Tyrone, died earlier. Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, followed by tributes and reflections from 6 to 7 p.m., in Cage Memorial Chapel, 7651 S. Jeffery Blvd., Chicago. Mass will be said from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in St. Ambrose Church, 1012 E. 47th St., Chicago.
