November 13, 2003 | Read Time: 4 minutes
Joan B. Kroc, the widow of the founder of McDonald’s, has left three major bequests to nonprofit organizations:
- National Public Radio, in Washington, received $200-million.
- The University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, Ind., and the University of San Diego have each received $50-million.The gifts will support academic programs at each university’s peace-studies institute.
Ms. Kroc died October 12 in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., at age 75.
Other recent gifts:
Berea College (Ky.): $1.9-million bequest from Jesse Wright King, who owned businesses in Iowa and Florida, and his wife, Lela, of North Redington Beach, Fla., for research, scholarships, and technology. Mr. King died in June 2000, and his wife died in August 2001.
Cleveland Clinic: $5-million bequest from Helen Myers McLoraine, of Denver, for the Scott Hamilton Cancer Alliance for Research, Education, and Survivorship at the Taussig Cancer Center. Ms. McLoraine, who died in Dallas in January at age 84, was a private investor in the oil and gas industry. She sponsored many figure skaters, including Mr. Hamilton, an Olympic gold medalist who was treated for testicular cancer at the center in 1997.
Cleveland State U.: $1-million from Carl Glickman, president of the Glickman Organization (Cleveland), and $1-million from Sam Miller, co-chairman and treasurer of Forest City Enterprises (Cleveland), for student scholarships. The university also received $1-million from Milton A. Wolf, U.S. ambassador to Austria from 1977 to 1980, to endow a chair in urban educational leadership.
Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, N.Y.): $4.6-million from William and Patricia Anton, to build a plaza on the institute’s campus. Mr. Anton is founder and chairman of Anton Airfood (Washington, D.C.) and Ms. Anton serves as president and chief executive officer of the company.
Florida State U. (Tallahassee): $7.5-million planned gift from T.K. Wether-ell, president of the university, and his wife, Virginia, for a new alumni center, athletic and student scholarships, and graduate fellowships. Mr. Wetherell attended the university on a football scholarship and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1967, his master’s degree in 1968, and his doctorate in education administration in 1974. The gift is in the form of a 1,000-acre farm in Jefferson County, Fla., which can be sold but must remain in one parcel.
Gaithersburg High School (Md.): $1-million bequest from the estate of Louis Ulmer, and his wife, Wilma, a former vice principal at the school, to endow a college-scholarship fund for students. Ms. Ulmer died four years ago and her husband died last December.
Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.): $1.15-million bequest from Jesse Wright King, who owned businesses in Iowa and Florida, and his wife, Lela, of North Redington Beach, Fla., for capital improvements, scholarships, and unrestricted support. This is the final installment of a $2.4-million pledge to the college. Mr. King died in June 2000, and his wife died in August 2001.
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (Cincinnati): $1-million challenge gift from an anonymous donor for its capital campaign.
New York City Center for Charter Excellence: $10-million from Joseph and Carol Reich, to help create 50 new charter schools in New York over the next five years. Mr. Reich is the founder of Reich and Tang (New York), an investment-management firm of which he was president until 1987. Ms. Reich serves as president of the Beginning With Children Foundation (New York), which the Reichs co-founded.
San Diego Fire Relief Fund: $1-million from Alex Spanos, owner of the San Diego Chargers football team, to help victims of the recent wildfires in Southern California.
U. of California-San Diego (La Jolla): $5-million from William Stensrud, chief executive officer of Ensemble Communications (San Diego) and a managing partner of Enterprise Partners (La Jolla), a venture-capital firm, and his wife, Carol, to support programs and faculty recruitment in the school of management.
U. of Kansas at Lawrence: $6.5-million pledge from Charles Spahr, and his wife, Mary Jane, for the school of engineering. Mr. Spahr, who graduated from the school in 1934 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering, served as chief executive of Standard Oil Company from 1959 to 1977. Ms. Spahr also attended the university in 1938.
U. of Pittsburgh Medical Center: $2-million from Robert Eberly, a retired banker and oil and gas producer and president and treasurer of the Eberly Foundation (Uniontown, Pa.), and his wife, Elouise, to establish an organ-transplant research program.
U. of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston: $6-million planned gift from Frans Gillebaard, an entrepreneur and real-estate developer who currently oversees Amstel Holdings (Kemah, Tex.), and his wife, Diane, to improve access to health care for indigent patients from Mexico and Central America and to create endowments for research on alcoholism, dyslexia, and migraines.
