A Tribute To Leo by NorthEast Oregon News

A Tribute To Leo

Friday, June 19, 2015

Baker City Herald

Leo Adler left $20 million to Baker City in 1995. Twenty years later, his foundation is worth $24 million, and the trustees have awarded $27 million in scholarships and grants

S. John Collins file photo/ Baker City Herald

Leo Adler lived his entire life in Baker City. When he died in 1993, he left the majority of his fortune to benefit the community.

‘He’s going to be here forever’ By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

eo Adler died more than 20 years ago, but the man still walks among us today. Those are the words of Gene Rose, Adler’s longtime attorney and a trustee of the Leo Adler Foundation. “He’s going to be here forever. For all time,” Rose says. Leo Adler was born June 21, 1895, in Baker City. His family moved into a two-story Italianate house on Main Street when he was four, and that’s where he lived for the rest of his life, until his death on Nov. 2, 1993, at age 98. “His first love — and only love — was Baker,” Rose says. “I have never met a man more dedicated to a community than Leo.” When Rose moved his law practice from Baker to Ontario in 1953, Adler was not impressed. “He was so unhappy about that,” Rose says. Adler switched to a different local lawyer, but rehired Rose when Rose returned to Baker in 1985. “I helped him with the document that now controls where his money goes,” Rose says. So just who was Adler, whose legacy will continue indefinitely? He was a man who built a business in magazine distribution, and was a very savvy investor. He also considered Baker his family. As he aged, Adler slowly closed off sections of his large house, and by the time of his death he used only the kitchen, his office and his bedroom and bathroom. He never spent any money on updating the house — never even added

“His first love — and only love — was Baker.” — Gene Rose, Adler’s longtime attorney

electrical outlets for the second story. Rose said visitors wouldn’t enter through the front door for fear of falling through the floor. But Adler did give his money to worthy organizations and projects. Norm Kolb was Adler’s longtime accountant. He said each year Adler would come in with his tax information all typed up, including his income for the year. “He’d say, ‘Norm, this is what it’s going to be. How much can I give away?’ ”

His will As per his will, his money established the Leo Adler Foundation with the direction that 60 percent go to college scholarships and 40 percent to community grants. But neither Rose nor Kolb knew how much Adler was worth. “He didn’t even know,” Rose says of Adler. His stock certificates were stored in a safe deposit box. “He was an investor, not a speculator,” Kolb said. “He bought stock. He listened and took their advice.” It took two days to sort through Adler’s papers, and then the news came that this man, who never spent any money on his house, had left more than $20 million to benefit the community. “I knew what was in the will,” Rose says. “Baker was born again.” Since 1995, when the

S John Collins/Baker City Herald

The Leo Adler Foundation gave $401,500 to help build the Baker Sports Complex.

“I knew what was in the will. Baker was born again.” — Gene Rose, on finding out that Adler had left $20 million to fund scholarships and grants in Baker County and North Powder

Foundation started doling out Adler’s money, it has given out $16,894,474 in scholarships to students from Baker County and North Powder. Community grants total $10,814,274. “We get the incredibly hard job to give this money out,” Rose said of the trustees, who include himself, Norm Kolb, Dianne Ellingson, Tabor Clarke, Chuck Hofmann, Jack Wilson and Michael Sullivan, who represents U.S. Bank. The Foundation has given

out more than $27 million in 20 years, and the fortune is now worth $24,311,153. That is $4 million more than when it started. “See why he’s still here? And always will be?” Rose says. See Adler/Page 2D

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald

The Leo Adler Memorial Parkway is about two miles long and follows Powder River for most of that distance.

A Tribute To Leo

Friday, June 19, 2015

Baker City Herald

The trustees, Rose says, are a “committee of dreamers that recognize a good project.”

Adler Continued from Page 1D

His money Rose rattles off Adler’s contributions so fast you can hardly keep track: Leo bought every ambulance the fire department owns. Nearly $900,000 has gone to the Baker City hospital. Close to $300,000 to Crossroads Carnegie Art Center. About $102,000 has enabled area youth to ski or snowboard on Fridays in a program at Anthony Lakes Mountain Resort. The Baker Sports Complex was granted $401,500, Little League has received $241,000 and Babe Ruth nearly $117,000 — all fitting because Adler loved baseball, and attended 23 consecutive World Series. Rose said at first he worried that other charitable foundations would stop giving money to Baker City projects once the Adler Foundation was established. He needn’t have worried — in fact, projects are often more successful if they’re supported by Adler first. “We’ve become the Good Housekeeping seal,” Rose says. “If we bless it, they will look at it.” One example he gives is the Baker Family YMCA project to create a new fitness center. Executive director Heidi Dalton leveraged $75,000 of Adler funds to secure $815,000 in other grant money.

“Baker was the best place in the world as far as (Leo) was concerned.” — Norm Kolb, Adler’s longtime accountant

“Mind-boggling,” Dalton says. “Leo Adler was absolutely critical. I can’t say enough good things about how Leo was the catalyst for what we were able to accomplish.” For the “Build a Bandstand” project, Adler granted $40,000 and then the Ford Family Foundation contributed $60,000. That project, after years of being in the fundraising stage, is set to be complete in August. The trustees, Rose says, are a “committee of dreamers that recognize a good project.”

The Trustees When Adler died in 1993, his will specified that 60 percent of his fortune would go to scholarships for students graduating from Baker County and Powder Valley high schools, and 40 percent for community grants. At first therewas a committee of three trustees. Then it grew to five. Now, seven trustees devote dozens of hours each year deciding how to distribute Adler’s money. In the past 20 years they have given away $27 million — 7,562 scholarships and 1,131 grants. That is a lot of education, and a lot of projects.

S. John Collins / S. John Collins

Michael Sullivan is the trustee who represents U.S. Bank, which handles the Foundation.

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald

Dianne Ellingson has been a trustee of the Leo Adler Foundation for 10 years.

S. John Collins/ Baker City Herald

Norm Kolb, left, was Adler’s longtime accountant. Gene Rose, right, was Adler’s attorney and the one who drafted his will.

There are obvious ones that depended on great community support as well as Adler funds — Baker Sports Complex, Crossroads Carnegie Art Center, the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and the Leo Adler Memorial Parkway, to name a few. But Adler funds have infiltrated nearly every part of life in Baker County — $276,000 to MayDay (which included buying a safehouse for victims of domestic abuse), $252,000 to The Salvation Army, $875,500 to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center, more than $80,000 to North Powder School. Adler funds have helped outfit rural fire departments with safety equipment and advanced technology, and have bought every ambulance for the Baker City Fire Department. The seven trustees of the Adler committee hash out the decisions through “heated discussions,” Sullivan said. “In every decision, there are very active opinions,” Sullivan said. Trustees review applications ahead of time, then decide who to interview for more information. “We learn more. We see what kind of people they are,” Ellingson said. “You can’t meet everybody, but it’s always nice when you can.” When it comes down to a final decision, the trustees rarely vote unanimously. Sometimes the vote is as close as 4-3. “It’s never unanimous,” Kolb said with a laugh. But they do all agree on one thing — Adler’s will rules

the decision. They return to Adler’s will again and again, seeking his guidance as they distribute his money. “Our job as a committee is to not do the things we like or want. We look to those who were close to Leo,” Sullivan says about Kolb and Rose. “Anything that benefited Baker, Leo was 150 percent for it,” Kolb said. “Baker was the best place in the world as far as he was concerned.” “Do you think we’ve honored Leo?” Ellingson asked Rose during a recent trustee meeting. Rose doesn’t even hesitate. “Oh yeah. I do,” he says. “Nothing made Leo happier than to see somebody do good.” The scholarships have done just that. Applicants must meet five criteria for a scholarship: • Graduate of a high school in Baker County or Powder Valley High School, or have acquired a GED from an educational institution in Baker County • Enroll and complete a minimum of 12 credit hours per term or semester (nine for graduate students) in an accredited college, university, technical or vocational school • Demonstrate a need for financial assistance •Have good moral character, demonstrate good citizenship and respect for the law • Have a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or better. That required GPA is lower than is mandated for many scholarships. “We determined early

Courtesy Base Camp Baker

Trustees of the Leo Adler Foundation are Michael Sullivan, Charles Hofmann, Jack Wilson,Tabor Clarke, Gene Rose, Norm Kolb and Dianne Ellingson.

on that Leo wanted to give them a chance,” Rose said. Many times, Kolb said, students earn better grades at college than in high school. Students are eligible for a scholarship for up to 15 terms or 10 semesters. Students who graduated from Baker County or Powder Valley schools before the Foundation began are also eligible for a scholarship, whether for undergraduate studies or a graduate program. Although the students go to many different schools, Rose emphasizes the numbers for Eastern Oregon University in La Grande. Each year, about 40 local students choose EOU, bringing nearly $186,000 to the

school. “Times that by 20 years,” Rose says. The number of scholarships vary each year, as do the award amounts. The first year, 1995, the Foundation gave out 207 scholarships that averaged $2,936. In 2014, 301 scholarships were awarded that averaged $3,854. Ellingson, who attends the high school awards night, said she is always struck by how many scholarship funds — in addition to Adler — have been established to help Baker High students “I think it creates a spirit — even if we can’t do what he did, we can do something,” she said.

Adler and me: college, a playground, a parkway and more By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

I regret that I never met Leo Adler. I’m sure, having grown up in Baker, that I must have passed him on the street. We lived in the same town for 14 years — the first part of my life, and the last of his. I never met Leo, but my life is richer because of him. The first gift was college —

scholarships awarded each of my four years at Boise State University. The second direct gift was when the Lions Club helped me apply for an Adler grant to update the playground at Geiser-Pollman Park in May 2014. That was my inside look at the Adler Foundation, when I was asked to come talk to the committee of trustees. I

was asked hard questions and left not knowing if the project would receive a grant or not. These seven people take their job very, very seriously, and I am grateful for that stewardship. The playground project did receive a grant — $25,000 awarded with the stipulation that Baker City match it dollar-for-dollar.

The city did, and that $50,000 helped secure an Oregon State Parks grant to pay for the rest of the project, which totaled about $170,000. Without the Adler grant, without that support of the trustees who took a chance on a dream, my friends and I would still be selling cakes and pies to raise money for new play equipment.

I think of Adler most every day, and marvel at his influence. I walk and run on the parkway that bears his name. My two children were born in the hospital that has benefited from many years of Adler funds. I’ve watched countless performances in the Leo Adler Theater at the Na-

tional Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. My kids find great joy touring the Baker Heritage Museum. His touch is everywhere in Baker County and in North Powder. And I recently learned that Adler’s generosity didn’t just start with his Foundation. See Adler and Me/Page 3D

A Tribute To Leo

Friday, June 19, 2015

Baker City Herald

Adler House Museum, 2305 Main St.

S. John Collins / Baker City Herald

The Adler House Museum is open for tours Memorial Day through Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Thanks to four dedicated women, a rundown house is now a museum By Lisa Britton

Adler Museum

For the Baker City Herald

hen Leo Adler died in 1993, his home of 93 years was in a bit of disrepair. Well, a lot, actually. Adler, who left $20 million to fund grants and scholarships in Baker County and North Powder, never spent any money to update his home. He’d slowly closed off parts of the two-story, 1880 Italianate house until he was living in just four rooms — the kitchen, back bedroom, bathroom and office. He hadn’t gone upstairs for 60 years. In his will, Adler left his home to the Oregon Trail Regional Museum (now Baker Heritage Museum) to be used as a museum, home for the curator or sold if the financial burden was too great. Four Baker County Museum Commission volunteers — Chary Mires, Colleen Brooks, Jane Hutton and Scotty Haskell — stepped into the house in 1994, a year after Adler’s death. Their story of restoration is recorded in “The Ladies of the Adler House,” a booklet written by Eloise Dielman that is available at the Adler House Museum and Baker Heritage Museum. Dielman interviewed Mires, Brooks and Hutton in March 2014. Haskell passed away in 2007. Brooks remembered well their reaction: “We walked in the door and our mouths just dropped open. I think we all were thinking ‘We can’t do this!’ ” The entire interior was

Adler and me

2305 Main St., Baker City • Open from Memorial Day through Labor Day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday • Admission: $6 adults, free for age 12 and younger • 541-523-9308 Portraits by Chelsea Blatchford

The women who restored the Adler House — Chary Mires, Colleen Brooks, Scotty Haskell and Jane Hutton — have been honored in the booklet “The Ladies of the Adler House” that is available at the Adler House Museum and Baker Heritage Museum.

covered with coal dust, soot and smoke from the coalburning furnace. The upstairs had the added problem of an open window that let in years’ worth of dust storms, leaves and more. Mires knew they had to try and restore the house, and she convinced the other women to join the effort. Each of the four brought a different talent to the task. Mires knew how to write grants, and directed the general restoration of the house. Brooks knew fabric and decorating. Hutton had the job of sorting and restoring nine trunks of Victorian linens coated in coal dust. Haskell tackled Adler’s office, unearthing many philanthropic awards, pictures and plaques that are now on display. Aside from those specific jobs, these women did the dirty work — cleaning, scraping, sweeping and more. An early estimate for res-

toration was $500,000. And they had no budget. Fortunately, the community stepped in to help. John Fuzi discovered that the middle of the house was sinking, and he managed to jack up the main floor beam. That and other joists had to be reinforced with metal. Fuzi donated that work, and was later hired to do further restoration work. Dave Durr from Richland rewired the house for just cost of materials. Marvin Windows built 26 replacement windows — each a different size — to look like the originals. Harry Williams also volunteered to help. He repaired the roof, replaced siding, installed windows and more. The most expensive part of restoration was the living room wallpaper, which came from an Australian company that re-creates historic styles. The cost was $10,000 (John Kinsman Foundation

Continued from Page 2D

Norm Kolb, Adler’s longtime accountant, said each year Leo would come to him with an estimated bottom line, and then ask how much he

• www. bakerheritagemuseum. com/adlerhouse.html

S. Joun Collins / Baker City Herald

Furniture, artwork and light fixtures are original to the Adler House and were purchased between 1890 and 1913. Some of the non-Victorian antiques were sold in yard sales to raise money for the restoration.

for Historic Homes grant) plus $8,000 for application (another grant). When the museum doors opened in June 1998, res-

could give away. Kolb said Adler routinely donated 35 to 40 percent of his profits each year. Words really cannot capture this man, who has become somewhat of a

toration costs had come to $145,000 thanks to all the volunteer work and donations. Grant funds came from

myth in this town. Thankfully, everyone can learn more about him by reading “The Spark and the Light: The Leo Adler Story” by Adair Law. And what would I say to Adler, if I

Collins Foundation, John Kinsman Foundation for Historic Homes, Leo Adler Foundation and MJ Murdock Charitable Trust.

had the chance? I think I’d say: “Thank you for loving this town so much. Thank you for helping further our education, and thank you for helping our dreams come true.”

A Tribute To Leo An Improved Community, Thanks To Leo

Friday, June 19, 2015

Baker City Herald

S. John Collins/Baker City Herald

The gallery at Crossroads Carnegie Art Center includes this colorful wall, comprised of glass tiles that were sold as a fundraiser. Glass artist E’Jay Weber created the tiles.

Adler support often leads to other grants By Lisa Britton

For the Baker City Herald

A bandstand This summer a bandstand will once again grace GeiserPollman Park. And Leo Adler helped make it happen. “They are a major, major donor,” said Joyce Hunsaker. She, along with her husband Dave, got involved with the project four years ago. The total cost of the Powder River Pavilion project is $250,000. She said they were able to leverage the Adler Foundation grant to secure an “over the top” grant from the Ford Family Foundation, which brought the project funds to completion. In the process of applying to Adler, Hunsaker was asked to present the project to the committee. “You make your case on paper. If you make the first cut, then you go in person,” she said. “You know you’re competing against these other worthy projects and there is only so much money to go around.” She appreciates the care the committee takes when evaluating grant applications. “They have to be so careful. And they are,” she said. “They are so conscious of the

“The Leo Adler Foundation is kind of a barometer that the other foundations use to determine if there is a level of community support. Leo Adler was absolutely critical.” — Heidi Dalton, director of the Baker County YMCA

impact on the community.”’

An art center Baker City’s art center has benefited from Adler’s generosity for many years. “When you look at the books from years ago for Crossroads, the Leo Adler grant often provided half of Crossroads annual income. The organization we have today is because of the Leo Adler Foundation,” said Ginger Savage, executive director of Crossroads Carnegie Art Center. Savage said grants from Adler have helped provide arts education at Baker 5J School District that Crossroads organized, operating support, a new gas kiln for the 50th anniversary activities and money for marketing the organization and the Carnegie Library. Adler also contributed to the center’s greatest project — restoring the Carnegie Library, which became the center’s home in 2008. Savage said the Adler Foundation contributed

$125,000, which includes $25,000 at the end of the project to buy equipment still in use today. ArtSpeak, an afterschool art and dance program for atrisk kids, has been made possible by Adler’s investment of $85,000 over the years. “Nobody has given more to Crossroads — in fact the Leo Adler Foundation per my records has given half of the grant funds Crossroads has received from about 1999 forward,” Savage said. Savage has been executive director of Crossroads for seven years, and she has applied for grants in that time. “The respect that the Leo Adler Foundation and its trustees have in the grant funder world is staggering,” she said. “When you do a big project in Baker County and you are looking for funds, if you don’t have Leo Adler’s support those funders are going to ask why. Leo dollars impart a level of community support and commitment to outside-the-region funders.” She said the Leo Adler Foundation is still one of the

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Work continues on the structure for a pavilion in Geiser Pollman Park, the culmination of many years of fundraising to build a bandstand.

top 25 grant funders in the state, according to Oregon Business Magazine. “The dedication and commitment of the Trustees is amazing,” she said. She references Adair Law’s book “The Spark and the Light,” and the values Leo’s dad imparted to his children: “Work hard, deal honestly, love your family, honor your religion, give back to your community, give your time, give your talents and give your money.” “If every person in Baker County lived by that code…. wow — wouldn’t it be spectacular?” she said.

The YMCA

Kathy Orr file photo

Baker FamilyYMCA director Heidi Dalton, left, said Adler grant funds enabled her to secure grants from a number of other charitable foundations to build a new fitness center. Here, she and Dave Coughlin inspect the placement of fitness equipment prior to the center’s opening.

Heidi Dalton knows the value of receiving an Adler grant. Several years ago, as the director of the Baker County YMCA, she submitted a grant application — the first she’d ever written — to garner money for a new fitness center. After Dalton made her presentation to the board of trustees, she was given $75,000. “That was the turning point for the Y,” she says. She then wrote more grants, and having Adler’s support helped her secure $815,000 from other foundations. “The Leo Adler Foundation is kind of a barometer that the other foundations use to determine if there is a level

of community support,” she said. “Leo Adler was absolutely critical.” Other funds came from the MJ Murdock Charitable Trust, Ford Family Foundation, and the Collins Foundation. Dalton said Kathleen Chaves, who spearheaded the Baker Sports Complex project and the Carnegie remodeling, shared her grant information with the Y. “The momentum picked up. Leo was the starting point,” Dalton said. It took only nine months to raise the money needed to turn an existing building into a brand-new fitness center that was double the size of the old one. The Y received a second grant of $75,000 from Adler toward the end of the project, to bring their total support to $150,000. Since the move, Y membership has increased by 25 percent to about 2,400, and visits to the facility have grown at the same pace. And the Y influence expands beyond the fitness center — this year, they provided swimming lessons and water safety skills for all second- and third-graders in Baker County, about 1,100 youngsters. A combination of ParentTeacher Organization money and grants kept the cost to $6 per child. “We were reaching kids who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to swim,” Dalton

said. This year, a $12,000 grant from Adler, along with a private donation and Y funds, helped install automated doors at the center’s entrance and locker rooms. “They do amazing things,” Dalton said of the Adler Foundation. “It’s hard to imagine what our community would be like without it.”

Social services In 1998, the Adler trustees helped create Partnership II, a collaboration of social service agencies that “resulted in safer homes for children, increased recovery from meth addiction, fewer children entering foster care, and social services system improvements,” said Mary Burns Tomlinson, the initial Partnership II coordinator. The first project identified 10 women with addictions, mental health issues, experiencing domestic violence, child neglect and other issues at risk of losing their children. Adler money funded a project where agencies worked together to streamline appointments, eliminate duplication, and wrap services around these families. “We learned to help one another, instead of pointing fingers when a problem occurred. Celebrating the success of the P2 moms was deeply satisfying,” Tomlinson said.