CHARLOTTE
Bill White was a "community" banker who took the label to heart.
He was passionate about the YMCA in his native Winston-Salem, and helped re-establish the movement in Ukraine after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992, The Charlotte Observer reported.
After that, he brought Ukrainian students to this country and paid their way to Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, a small school he didn't attend -- but loved it as if he had.
And when White died at 79 in December of colon cancer, he left $1 million to the Stanly County school, Pfeiffer officials announced Monday.
In the short term, the school plans to hold the "transformational" gift in a cash reserve as an emergency fund while it navigates the difficult economy. Ultimately, it will be blended with Pfeiffer's endowment, Pfeiffer President Chuck Ambrose said Monday.
"Before he got sick, he made a deliberate decision he was going to help a small private college that he had come to be friends with," Ambrose said. "With the economy as it is, the timeliness and meaningfulness of this gift is amazing.
"...A million dollars can do great things for a place like Pfeiffer."
White, former president of Winston-Salem-based First Federal Savings & Loan, was introduced to Pfeiffer more than 20 years ago by N.C. Bankers Association President Thad Woodard, a 1968 Pfeiffer graduate.
"He didn't just say 'hello' and leave," Ambrose said. "He became a good friend of the university."
And White didn't just write tuition checks for three Ukrainian students and one German student to attend the school. He checked in on them. He asked about their grades. He invited them to spend holidays at his house.
"Bill's values were closely aligned with Pfeiffer's mission of service learning and community engagement," Ambrose said. "To the parents of these international students, he said, 'let me help your kids, and I've got a place in North Carolina where they will be safe and prosper.'"
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