We thank all our donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.
Marcos and Vivian Duran
Former Field Worker
Gift in Will Received from Former Field Worker
Marcos and Vivian Duran were long-time Salinas residents who worked hard, contributed much, and never forgot the importance of family. Vivian passed away in January of 1998, and Marcos in September 2007.
In August 2008, the Foundation accepted a gift in the amount of $140,000 from the Marcos M. Duran and Vivian H. Duran Family Trust to create scholarships for students of the Salinas Valley. The gift was presented by the Durans’ nephew, Craig Ramos, and his wife, Susan.
What is most remarkable about this gift is that Marcos Duran did not have an opportunity to get a formal education in his life. His mother had been widowed with two young children and could support them only by working in the fields of California. Her children joined her in the fields in the Salinas Valley as soon as they were old enough to work.
Mr. Duran continued to work in the agriculture business throughout his life, working mostly as a highly skilled ag mechanic. But, he never forgot the difficult situation he had been thrown into as a child. [Read More…]
President Emeritus Supports College
Stuart F. Dufour (1913-2007) went to San Mateo Community College before attending Stanford University. He always felt that his years at the community college were a key to his admission at Stanford and always had high appreciation for the junior college system. At Stanford he majored in Communication and, upon graduation in 1934, got a job as a reporter for the San Jose Mercury Herald. It was there that he met his wife, Willna, also a reporter at the Mercury. They were married in 1936 and had two children. In 1939 they moved to Salinas where he taught journalism and history at Salinas Union High School. After serving with the American Red Cross during the war, he came back to Salinas Union High School. In 1946 Stuart came to Hartnell as a journalism instructor and worked at the college with Dr. Ching from1951 until he was selected to be junior college president in 1955. He was popular among both students and faculty. After retirement in 1968, he and Willna enjoyed travel, golf and investing their savings in the stock market. Many of their investments were successful, enabling them to establish a charitable trust with proceeds given to Hartnell, Stanford, and the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital.[Read More…]
Stuart F. Dufour
President Emeritus
June Handley
Hartnell Dean of Students
The Legacy of Longtime Dean June Handley: Scholarships for Deserving Students
For 36 years, students were central to the life of former Hartnell Dean of Students June Handley. “She loved Hartnell College and her students, and was proud to be an educator,” according to cousin Garon Handley.
William Barr, Monterey County superintendent of schools, who knew Ms. Handley when he was a Hartnell student, said she was “both passionate and compassionate, a scholar excited about sharing her academic expertise and a human being who understood the personal concerns of her students.”
Ms. Handley died in July of last year at the age of 86 as the result of injuries she sustained in a fall.
But her concern to help students will continue after her death as the result of a scholarship she established in 1977 when she retired from Hartnell. An endowment was created upon her death that will provide scholarships for deserving Hartnell students in the years to come.[Read More…]
Jason Matthews
near Salinas, California and began erecting his greenhouses. He grew chrysanthemums, then roses. In 1998 at age 63, after nearly 30 years of ups and downs as a commercial flower grower, Andy took a chance and transitioned all of Matsui Nursery’s production to growing orchids. He traveled the world researching and mastering the techniques of growing orchids and
Burrell Leonard
Silicon Valley pioneer
Art Gallery Receives ‘Generous Gift’ from Estate of Silicon Valley Pioneer
A “generous gift” from the estate of Silicon Valley pioneer Burrell Leonard will provide the opportunity for the Hartnell College Art Gallery to stabilize its funding, according to Gary Smith, Gallery director and art instructor.
“Mr. Leonard’s contribution to the Gallery,” Smith said, “is a welcomed surprise. We are extremely grateful for his thoughtfulness and support.”
For 20 years the Gallery has worked closely with the Hartnell College Foundation to raise the Gallery’s annual operating budget. “We will continue to work hard on our annual fund-raising,” said Smith, “but the Burrell Leonard endowment will provide us with a new sense of solidity to what we do here in collecting and exhibiting works of art for the Salinas Valley community.”
John W. Inman, chairman of the Board of Hartnell College Foundation, said, “Through the creation of this generous endowment, Mr. Leonard has made a perpetual gift to the Hartnell Foundation. It’s a gift that will be invested wisely by the Foundation so that it will continually support the Gallery.”[Read More…]
Elmer and Dorothy Eade—Scholarships for Hartnell Nursing Students
Thanks to the generosity of the late Elmer and Dorothy Eade of King City, deserving nursing students at Hartnell College will be able to pursue their dreams of becoming members of the nursing profession. Mr. and Mrs. Eade, who died in 2002 and 2000, respectively, established a $600,000 scholarship endowment that will benefit Hartnell nursing students. Mr. Eade, born in King City in 1911, was a 1929 graduate of King City High School. Upon graduation, he worked for Associated Oil Co. and on his family’s ranch for many years. Mrs. Eade, also a King City native, was born in 1913. Upon graduation from King City High, she went on to attend San Jose Hospital’s nursing program, and later worked as a Registered Nurse (RN) for the King City Hospital and Mee Memorial Hospital in King City. [Read More…]
Elmer and Dorothy Eade
King City
Dr. James R. Fassett
Hartnell College alumnus
The Late Dr. Fassett Remembered the Foundation With a Bequest
The late Dr. James R. Fassett, Hartnell College alumnus, former Trustee, Founding Director of Hartnell College Foundation, and dear friend has remembered Hartnell College Foundation with a bequest. Prior to his death, Dr. Fassett created a charitable remainder trust with a life estate for a long-time friend. Hartnell College Foundation is named as one of the beneficiaries of the trust.
Dr. Fassett was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and grew up in Gonzales. He attended Gonzales High School and later attended and graduated from Salinas High School. He was a graduate of Hartnell College and transferred to Stanford University, where he completed medical school. After serving in the Army for three years as a Captain, he finished his family practice residency at Monterey County Hospital, now known as Natividad Medical Center. He then returned to Gonzales where he was a family practitioner from 1948 until his retirement due to health problems in 1988.
In 1980, Dr. Fassett received the California Medical Association’s first Plessner Award as the finest family practitioner in California. Subsequently, he was runner-up for Family Practitioner of the Year in the United States.[Read More…]
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