Omar Knedlik (1916–1989), was the inventor of the ICEE frozen drink. He was born and raised a poor farm boy in Barnes, Kansas in 1916. Knedlik was a World War II veteran who bought his first ice cream shop after the war. He owned several hotels and cars before moving to Coffeyville, Kansas, where he became the owner of a Dairy Queen in the late-1950s. Knedlik did not have a soda fountain, so he served semi-frozen bottled soft drinks.