MHS grad dominates cigar world
Staff reporter
Born to a rural Marion County couple, LaVonda Hett appreciated farm life and Midwestern values.
She knew that hard work and perseverance would pay off.
LaVonda's destiny became obvious in April 1966, when the blonde-haired beauty met her husband in a New York City hotel.
She was a senior who, along with 16 Marion High School juniors and seniors traveled by train with other high school students from Kansas to visit Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
All of the students stayed at one hotel. On Saturday evening, April 8, 1966, Lew Rothman and a friend were at the same hotel as LaVonda and the other students. A conversation was started with the men.
"Lew asked, 'Did you come into town on a tornado?'" LaVonda recalled.
The Queens, N.Y., native, a year older than LaVonda, returned the next day and offered to show the sights to LaVonda and her friends.
Of all the hotels and people in New York City, the two teens were destined to meet.
The couple was married exactly one year later — April 9, 1967, in Marion.
The Rothmans lived in New York City where Lew worked at his father's grocery store and LaVonda was a model with Plaza Five, a division of the Steward Agency.
The couple opened a little cigar store March 11, 1971, L&L Rothman, on Fifth Avenue.
"We took it as it came and made the most of opportunities," LaVonda said.
Lew came from a retail background and LaVonda saw her parents work on the farm, side-by-side. She knew what it would take to make the business successful.
When customers asked for a specific kind of cigar, the Rothmans did their best to find it for them.
"We had a customer who came in from Texas on business. He walked into our 45th Street store and said, 'I can't get these in Texas. Do you guys ship?' Well, Lew and I looked at each other — each of us thinking that we couldn't possibly make a living in this tiny store — and said, 'Sure!' It all started with one customer asking."
And that was the start of the mail order business.
When the mail order tobacco business was taking off in the late 1970s, the Marion County Record printed the catalogs for the company.
"My sister Teresa would bundle them up and take them to the post office," LaVonda said.
Today a JR Cigar Company retail store remains in New York City with stores in New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Detroit, and North Carolina.
Corporate headquarters are in Whippeny, N.J., where the couple resides.
In the fall edition of Cigar Magazine, LaVonda was featured in a segment, "Kicking Ash in a Man's World."
According to the article, in the cigar world, LaVonda is revered as a pioneer for women and respected as an absolute professional.
Heck, she even has a cigar named after her — Flor de LaVonda.
"When we first started out, it was a man's world." LaVonda said. "But that has changed because there are more women involved, not only on the retail side of it but in manufacturing as well. I'm very pleased at how a man's viewpoint of a woman in the industry has changed and evolved. There are some very, very knowledgeable women out there," she said.
Women also have become steady customers with many enjoying the variety of products available.
Under her guidance, a tiny store became one of the world's premiere sellers of tobacco products.
With more than 1,000 employees, customer service remains the company's strong suit.
"A lot of telemarketers are women and can sell cigars as well as men," LaVonda said. But before any telemarketer or retail clerk is dealing with customers, they have to be trained.
"We have our own in-house cigar school," she said.
Married for nearly 40 years, the couple has four children — daughter Marni Wolff who is married to Kevin; Samantha Rothman, married to John Hankin; and sons, Shane and Luke.
Never forgetting her roots, LaVonda is looking forward to returning to Marion this weekend to celebrate her 40th class reunion.
LaVonda's father, Tom, is deceased. Mother Gerri Williams lives in Marion as do brothers Rocky Hett and Jack Hett. Bruce Hett lives in McPherson, sister Shelly Stafford and husband Tom live in Hays, and sister Teresa Higgins and husband Bill live in North Carolina.
At the end of the day, the farm girl from Marion and the city boy from Queens can relax and enjoy a full life — in and out of the cigar world.
