Bequest to DePauw U. Tops $128-Million; Other Gifts

An Indianapolis couple who attended DePauw University, in Greencastle, Ind., have left the institution $128.5-million for scholarships.

The bequest came from Philip Forbes Holton, who died in 1995, and Ruth Clark, who died two years later. The gift represents a little more than half of the couple’s estate.

The couple also bequeathed percentages of their estate to Hartford Hospital, in Connecticut; Indiana University Medical School, Methodist Hospital of Indiana, and Park Tudor School, all in Indianapolis; and Naples Community Hospital, in Florida. The Holtons’ only child, Jane, died in 1974. She had attended Park Tudor.

U. L. (Pete) Uebelhoer, the executor of the Holtons’ wills, would not reveal the percentages that are going to those institutions, and said he could not estimate dollar amounts until the Internal Revenue Service finishes its assessment of Ruth Clark’s estate.

Mr. Holton was former chief executive officer of the Inland Container Corporation. Many of the estate’s assets were shares of Time-Warner stock that Mr. Holton had received when his company was bought by Time Inc. in 1978.

The Time-Warner shares caused the value of DePauw’s bequest to soar. The university had previously announced that it had received gifts totaling $70-million because of the bequest, but it realized last year when the estate was being settled that it would end up with a much higher sum. As a result, the university’s Board of Trustees doubled the goal of the capital campaign to $300-million. The 36 trustees also pledged to contribute a total of $25-million themselves.

Philip Holton and Ruth Clark attended DePauw in 1925, but both departed after two years when Mr. Holton transferred to the University of Illinois.

* Birmingham-Southern College, in Alabama, has received $10-million from 1932 alumnus Elton B. Stephens and his son, James, for a science facility.

In addition, the two men have pledged to match, dollar for dollar, up to $5-million in donations from others who support the project over the next three years.

Elton B. Stephens is chairman of EBSCO Industries, in Birmingham, a magazine-subscription company. James Stephens is president of EBSCO.

Other recent gifts:

Los Angeles County Museum of Art: 75 works of Chinese art estimated at $3,500,000 from Eric Lidow of Los Angeles, president of International Rectifier, a semiconductor business, and his wife, Leza, for the permanent collection, and $1,000,000 from Wally Weisman of Los Angeles, former chairman of American Medical International, and his wife, Sheila, to expand the museum’s “Family Days” program.

Ohio Wesleyan U.: $1,000,000 from Elizabeth M. Ross of Columbus, Ohio, widow of Richard Ross, former president of Ross Laboratories, to establish an art museum.

Oklahoma Christian U.: $2,000,000 from Terry Childers of Edmond, Okla., owner of Childers Corporation and former city manager of Oklahoma City, and his wife, Essie, to establish a leadership institute.

U. of California at Berkeley: $1,400,000 from Mary Jane Brinton of San Francisco, a tutor, to establish a program for students who plan to teach in inner-city schools.

U. of San Francisco: $3,660,000 bequest from the estate of Marguerite S. Bardt of Beverly Hills, Cal., widow of Harry M. Bardt, a banker, to endow scholarships for undergraduates and at the School of Law.

U. of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas: $3,000,000 from John (Tom) Walter of Dallas, former chief financial officer at Electronic Data Systems, and his wife, Jean, for clinical care and research in ophthalmology, urology, and breast cancer.