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Glossary
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Three years ago, E.W. Firstenburg was presented with the prestigious Howard and Jean Vollum Award for Lifetime Philanthropic Achievement. In accepting the Award, E.W. referenced Andrew Carnegie’s dictum that to die rich is to die disgraced. With a twinkle in his eye, E.W. quipped “I hope I didn’t take this too seriously.”
In fact, E.W. and Mary Firstenburg did approach their drive to serve others seriously and in earnest, with charitable gifts stretching back through the decades. They were the first to establish a family fund at the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington, soon after the Foundation was formed. Their trust, combined with an important gift to the Community Foundation’s Administrative Endowment Fund, set the Foundation on a firm footing. Later, their generosity launched the Foundation’s Community Giving Fund, providing grant dollars to address southwest Washington’s greatest needs. And further partnerships resulted in the Firstenburg Technology Center at the Clark County Skills Center; the Firstenburg Community Center; and the Firstenburg Commons at WSU-Vancouver.
E.W. was a talented businessman with an unfaltering work ethic developed as a young man of the Depression (he retired as First Independent Bank Chairman at age 92). He was blessed with a lifetime of 97 years, and we are all beneficiaries of his desire to spend many of those years giving away his hard-earned money. Most prominently was the $15 million gift for the new patient tower at Southwest Washington Medical Center, the largest Clark County gift by living donors at that point in time. Innovative Services NW’s new building, the Mary Firstenburg Family Center, was named for his beloved wife and made possible with Firstenburg support, as were numerous other charitable causes throughout our community.
Ribbon cutting for the Firstenburg Drinking Fountains
As I reflect on E.W.’s life, I am reminded of a recently-launched campaign called “The Giving Pledge” to encourage the nation's billionaires to pledge to give at least half their net worth to charity, in their lifetimes or at death. Led by Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates, their effort will change the face of philanthropy, while inspiring all Americans to give. Melinda Gates noted one of the many reasons individuals haven’t yet given: “They just don't want to take the time to think about it all.”
E.W. Firstenburg did take the time to think about caring for the future. And he acted. In doing so, E.W. also drew our attention to the responsibilities we all have for improving our community.
The Firstenburg Family
Southwest Washington stands tall in its philanthropic tradition. Giving is what we do. Informally, many of us have already made a “Giving Pledge,” considering ways to shape what our community is like, whether with big gifts or small, with those made now or in the future or with our time. Our challenge as a community is to continue in this spirit that E.W. Firstenburg - and so many others - set for us. By giving generously and by doing good works, we can be assured a bright future and a hopeful, kindhearted and generous place to call our home for many years to come.
Rick Melching, President
The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington
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