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| 10/10/2008 6:27:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Longtime Manitowish Waters residents Frank R. and Betty J. Koller. |
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| Thanks to a $5 million deferred estate plan contribution from Manitowish Waters residents Frank R. and Betty J. Koller, Marshfield Clinic is marking the successful completion of its $40 million capital campaign for the Melvin R. Laird, Jr. Center for Medical Research in Marshfield. The capital campaign included $30 million for constructing and equipping the new 112,300-square-foot Laird Center addition (pictured), $5 million for endowed research chairs and the Kollers’ $5 million gift supporting medical research.
Photo courtesy of Marshfield Clinic |
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Koller family makes $5 million donation to Marshfield Clinic
Famed Scottish-born American industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie (1835-1911), namesake of more than 2,500 Carnegie Libraries and the enduring Carnegie Foundation, once remarked that "the man who dies rich dies disgraced."
Taking a page from Carnegie's philanthropic model, 62-year Manitowish Waters residents Frank R. and Betty J. Koller recently included a charitable trust in their estate plan, providing for a $5 million deferred donation to complete the $40 million capital campaign for Marshfield Clinic's Melvin R. Laird, Jr. Center for Medical Research in Marshfield.
When the Kollers learned they had an opportunity to help Marshfield Clinic reach its fundraising goal, the retired couple, longtime Lakeland area philanthropists, didn't flinch.
The Kollers' estate gift, earmarked for medical research, represents the largest single financial commitment that Marshfield Clinic has received in its 92-year history.
While contributions are still being accepted, the Koller commitment put the campaign "over the top," bringing it to a successful conclusion.
The $40 million capital campaign included $30 for constructing, furnishing and equipping the new Laird Center facility, $5 million for endowed research chairs and $5 million for research.
"We are extremely grateful to Frank and Betty Koller for this exceptionally generous contribution," said Karl Ulrich, M.D., M.M.M., president and CEO of Marshfield Clinic. "It represents the single largest financial commitment Marshfield Clinic has ever received in its long history of fundraising. Over time, contributions like this will become even more important to advance health care. What a wonderful precedent this couple has set."
Betty Leasure Koller, a Birchwood native, has been a Marshfield Clinic patient since she was 12 years old, when she saw dermatologist Dr. Stephen Epstein, a German refugee, for skin problems.
Possessing a strong interest in medical research, Epstein in the 1940s would pave the way for today's Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation.
Chicago native Frank Koller, a retired cranberry grower, and Betty, a retired real estate broker, are now both in their 80s.
Longtime generous philanthropists, the Kollers have contributed to numerous research projects and capital campaigns at Marshfield Clinic, as well as to many fundraising projects, charities and scholarships in the Lakeland area.
The Kollers have seen several Marshfield Clinic physicians in Marshfield and at the Marshfield Clinic Minocqua Center over the years, experiences which have led them to become self-described "friends and advocates" of the clinic.
"I usually recommend my clinic physicians to other people," Betty said. "The doctors I've had have been excellent. I've always felt they were thorough and we've had a very positive relationship."
The Kollers are also acquaintances of Laird Center namesake and longtime Marshfield resident Melvin Laird, a Republican U.S. congressman who provided a sympathetic ear and tangible support in Washington, D.C., when little support was to be found during the 1960 "cranberry scare," a time when the government banned the sale of cranberries because of the widespread bog use of aminotriazole, a weed killer that was later found to be safe.
Betty's father, Bert Leasure, then chairman of the board of Massachusetts-based grower cooperative Ocean Spray Cranberries, tried calling on congressional leaders in Washington, D.C. and found but a handful of open doors.
Laird's was one of them.
"Mel was one of the few in Washington who would even talk to him," Betty recalled. "One refused to meet him and actually sneaked out a back door to avoid him."
It would be Laird himself who announced the Kollers' leading contribution to Marshfield Clinic's Laird Center capital campaign at a private Thursday, Oct. 9 reception and dinner at the Holiday Inn hotel in Marshfield, an event attended by some 300 donors, dignitaries and Marshfield Clinic officials.
Kollers have a long history of
philanthropy
In addition to their longtime support of Marshfield Clinic, including its brick-and-mortar Lawton Center and original Laird Center projects, the Kollers have been active contributors to community causes in Manitowish Waters and across the Lakeland area.
The last surviving founding members of the Presbyterian Church USA-affiliated Manitowish Waters Community Church, the Kollers funded the installation of a tower and carillon and contributed the lion's share of funding for remodeling and expansion of the church sanctuary.
Many Koller donations have been made in memory of their late son and sole heir, Lakeland Union High School and North Central Technical College alumnus Frank B. Koller, a Vietnam War veteran who suffered repeated wartime exposure to "Agent Orange," a powerful dioxin-laced herbicide and defollient used by the U.S. military to deny cover for their Vietnamese opponents.
After son Frank B. Koller tragically committed suicide, the Kollers embarked on their first major philanthropic project, funding the memorial establishment of Koller Behavioral Health Services at Howard Young Medical Center in Woodruff. The Kollers continue to provide funding in support of Koller Behavioral Health, which provides easy access to quality mental health and AODA counseling services.
The Kollers also funded the 1980 development of Frank B. Koller Memorial Park at Rest Lake, the 1988 construction and 1998 expansion of the Frank B. Koller Memorial Library and the 1991 development of the Frank B. Koller Memorial Veterans Monument honoring Manitowish Waters veterans at Pinelawn Cemetery.
Additionally, the Kollers support trade or vocational school scholarships at Lakeland Union High School and Mercer High School, as well as a cranberry fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Living simply in their Wild Rice Lake home, the unpretentious Kollers note that they do not always make such a "splash" about their philanthropic contributions, often quietly making donations without any public recognition.
Such was the case with several recent contributions, including one made to the Manitowish Waters Fire Company, of which Frank is a retired charter member.
In addition to Marshfield Clinic, the Kollers have also made estate planning provisions in their wills for the Manitowish Waters Fire Company and the town of Manitowish Waters, the latter earmarked for providing funding for the upkeep of the veteran's memorial.
Other estate beneficiaries include Tampa-based Shriners Hospitals for Children, a 22-hospital health care system dedicated to providing free pediatric specialty care for youths afflicted with orthopaedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries and cleft lip and palate.
The Kollers have also made estate planning provisions for the New London-based Rawhide Boys Ranch, a faith-based non-profit residential care center which helps troubled teen boys make positive life changes.
The Kollers have pledged to donate, after their deaths, a portion of the proceeds that will be generated from the sale of Frank's collection of more than 60 cars, trucks and firefighting apparatus.
"You see the need," Betty said of their longtime dedication to philanthropic endeavors. "...We've always felt that if there was a need, we'd try to support it ... We feel we made our money here and we have nobody to leave it to."
Koller wealth grew from humble
start in cranberry business
The Kollers began their famed cranberry-growing enterprise with very humble beginnings.
After the completion of Frank's three-year World War II naval tour of duty as a second class petty officer radio operator and signalman in the Pacific Theater, the Kollers relocated to the Northwoods from Chicago, where they both met in the fourth grade.
The Kollers first landed in Wausau, where Frank found work for a year at WSAU-AM 550. The couple relocated to Manitowish Waters in 1946 after Frank learned of a group of families starting cranberry marshes in the rural Vilas County community, thinking it sounded like a good way to make a living.
"I hardly knew a cranberry from a grapefruit," Frank said with a laugh.
Fledgling Koller Cranberry Co. was largely capitalized with funds provided by Betty's father, Bert Leasure.
Recalled Betty, "We had some money, but not a lot."
They Kollers spent their first winter in a summer cottage that was not winterized, heating the structure with a kerosene stove. They built their first wooden drying racks in that small cottage, leaving sawdust all over their living quarters.
Living conditions were tough, especially with the arrival of a newborn son and a newly-planted cranberry marsh that would take five years before it produced any meaningful harvest.
"My dad said he didn't know how we kids ever lived out there," Betty recalled. "We were lucky to have our heads just above water."
But the Kollers persevered, with Betty working alongside her husband in the bogs, driving a truck or tractor if necessary and helping keep the books. The Koller Cranberry Co. eventually grew to include a 75-acre cranberry marsh on the town's famed "Cranberry Boulevard" along Alder Lake Road.
Sold in 1997 and later merged with another cranberry grower, Koller Cranberry now operates as today's Vilas Cranberry Co.
Over the years, the Kollers also owned Fifield Cranberry in Fifield and Oneida Marsh, located west of Minocqua.
In later years, Betty started a prosperous real estate business during a time when the Northwoods experienced a great deal of development because of the demand for vacation properties.
"The Kollers are two of the most genuine people I have ever met," said Reed Hall, executive director of the Marshfield Clinic. "I have had the pleasure of knowing them for many years and they are an absolute delight. I'm very pleased that they have put us over the top on our fundraising campaign. The Laird Center for Medical Research will be a part of their own great legacy in central and northern Wisconsin."
New Laird Center brings researchers under one roof
The completed expansion project brings Marshfield Clinic's Melvin R. Laird Center for Medical Research to 162,000 square feet of space - 51,836 square feet in the original 1997 Laird Center facility, now dubbed Laird South, and 112,300 square feet of space in the new facility, known as Laird North.
The new Laird North facility includes 43,009 square feet for the clinical laboratory, 3,590 square feet for applied technology and molecular dynamics laboratories and 14,991 square feet dedicated to Research Foundation facilities for human genetics, biomedical informatics and emerging infectious disease research.
Laird served as presidential counselor for domestic affairs in the Nixon White House, helping facilitate Gerald R. Ford's appointment as vice president.
Ford, who succeeded Nixon as president following Nixon's 1974 resignation during the Watergate scandal, was among the dignitaries attending the September 1997 dedication of the original Laird Center facility at Marshfield Clinic.
A longtime advocate for improved worldwide healthcare, Laird helped lead bipartisan efforts to establish the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control. Laird also logged 12 consecutive years as a member of the U.S. delegation to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Laird's association with Marshfield Clinic began in 1952 when dermatologist Epstein encouraged the freshman congressman to become involved in medical research.
Since 1982, Laird has served on Marshfield Clinic's National Advisory Council.
The new Laird Center for Medical Research also houses the George E. Magnin Medical Library, the Robert Froehlke Conference Center and a replica of Laird's Reader's Digest Association office in Washington, D.C.
Celebratory events slated
To mark the debut of the Laird Center for Medical Research, Marshfield Clinic has scheduled a festive three-day slate of activities, including a dedication ceremony set for this morning, Friday, Oct. 10, at 10 a.m.
A crowd of more than 400 are expected to attend the dedication, which comes just a bit more than two years after the expansion project's Sept. 8, 2006 groundbreaking. The Marshfield Clinic is located at 1000 N. Oak Ave. in Marshfield.
Among the dignitaries scheduled to be in attendance today for the Laird Center dedication are namesake Laird, Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle (D) and Wausau resident Obey, Laird's House successor.
Elias Zerhouni, M.D., director of the Bethesda, Md.-based National Institutes of Health, will deliver the keynote dedication address.
The 120-year-old NIH, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serves as the primary federal agency for supporting and conducting medical research in the U.S., employing 18,627 at 27 institutes and centers nationwide.
Public tours of the new Laird Center for Medical Research facility are scheduled for Friday, Oct. 10 from 12:30-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Tours are also scheduled on Saturday, Oct. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
On Thursday, Oct. 9, Marshfield Clinic's Laird Center dedication celebrations included a forum discussion on the future of genetics research, held inside the Laird Center's Robert F. Froehlke Auditorium conference center.
The genetics forum was moderated by Louis Sullivan, M.D., a former U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary and the founding dean and first president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.
The discussion panel included some of the best and brightest contemporary minds in the field of medical research and policy: Ellen Wright Clayton, M.D., J.D., Vanderbilt University; Norman Frost, M.D., UW-Madison; Howard J. Jacob, Ph.D., Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital of Wisconsin; Robert G. Kennedy, Ph.D., University of St. Thomas; Cathy McCarty, Ph.D., M.P.H., Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation; Justin Sharren, M.D., Ph.D., FACMI, UW-Madison and Columbia University; and Clive N. Svendson, Ph.D., UW-Madison.
Eric Johnson can be reached at ejohnson@lakelandtimes.com.
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Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, October 10, 2008
Article comment by:
Judy Stine
In the 8-1/2 years this is true to Betty & Frank's generosity. Betty as I knew her has a heart of gold and compassion. With all they have done for the communities in the Great Northwoods they surely will be in GOD's home.
Betty it was a pleasure knowing you & Frank.
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