By Joe Pinchot
MERCER COUNTY — The Rev. John M. Trojak recalled that day when he got the call from First National Bank.
“I was blown away by that,” he said.
The bank official told Rev. Trojak, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Sharon, that Henry and Catherine Evans had left the church money in their wills.
“I knew we were in there,” Rev. Trojak said. “I didn’t know to what extent.”
The amount is what blew the pastor away: $1.5 million.
The gift was repeated twice over: $1.5 million each for Thiel College in Greenville and the Buhl Club in Sharon.
Mrs. Evans, who died March 7, 2003, at age 89, was a lifelong member of First Baptist. Evans was baptized by Rev. Trojak on Dec. 23, 1990, after Evans, who died Jan. 2, 2000, at age 85, had retired from Sharon Steel. He was a trustee of the college and a daily visitor to the club.
Evans “was married to Sharon Steel,” Rev. Trojak said of the former chief executive officer. But that didn’t stop him from becoming involved in a number of community organizations. Once he joined the church, he served on its board of trustees, donated money for children’s camps and capital campaigns and lent money in times of need.
Evans would set up meetings between church, college and club officials and people who had valuable input on a project or activity the institutions were undertaking.
“He was a door opener for the college,” said John R. Hauser, the recently retired executive director of development. “He knew so much of what was going on in different areas. He was always looking at ways we could collaborate, so it was a win-win situation for the college and what business we were dealing with.”
Although Evans never attended college, he became close to Thiel, possibly lured by college board members who were aware of his community involvement in the Shenango Valley, Hauser said.
Evans was a college trustee from 1987-96, and dubbed a trustee emeritus afterward, a distinction bestowed on only about 5 percent of trustees.
“He was very optimistic,” Hauser said. “He was a businessman who really looked beyond business for the good of the community and the institutions of the community. He was always looking beyond what was in it for himself and his company.”
Evans started his day at the Buhl Club, working out in the wellness center, playing handball, pedaling an exercise bicycle, and enjoying a steam bath or showering there, said club Executive Director Jeffrey Valentino.
As with the church, Evans would donate money for capital campaigns and other projects, and help secure material and labor.
“Henry was man of his word,” Valentino said, who referred to him as “an extension of Frank Buhl.”
“What a great guy,” Valentino said. “He was an advocate of the Buhl Club.”
While large gifts such as that from the Evanses have caused in-fighting as to how to spend the money at other churches and institutions, Rev. Trojak said the Evanses took that away from the church by requiring the money to be added to an existing endowment or used to create one. Under state law, the gift recipients are then required to use 2 to 7 percent of the interest each year, and the rest compounds.
The church created an endowment and formed a committee to decide how to spend the available interest, which this year totaled $77,000.
While some of the money is being put into church operations, much of it is going toward programs that were near and dear to the Evanses — especially those involving kids — and to create new ones.
Although the Evanses never had any children, they loved children and always contributed to church activities involving kids. On more than one occasion, the Evanses’ Cadillac would pull up to some children’s activity the church was having, such as a round of miniature golf.
“They would just sit and watch the kids play golf,” Rev. Trojak said.
Over the last three years, the church has used endowment money to send 100 kids to Camp Judson, a church camp in Erie. Endowment proceeds also have gone to West Hill Ministries, a consortium of four Sharon churches that runs an afterschool program and other activities, and to help hire a youth pastor.
The church also held a spiritual growth initiative with materials bought by endowment funds.
“I’ve never looked at this gift as a reason to relax, but as motivation to do more,” Rev. Trojak said, noting the congregation’s challenge is to not let itself rely on the endowment for operations.
The church also has added to the endowment through other memorial contributions.
The Buhl Club is using endowment money for capital projects.
“We have a 100-year-old building, so you can just imagine,” Valentino said.
There is always work going on in the club to fix or renovate something. Club officials have been sprucing up the dance studio and plan work for the game room and swimming pool, Valentino said.
Thiel, which gave Evans an honorary doctorate in 1991, added the gift to its endowment and has used the interest to support the Henry G. Evans Scholarship, which goes to a needy student involved in the Haller Enterprise Institute, and the institute, which promotes entrepreneurship by encouraging students to start businesses.
“Dr. Evans knew how important the endowment was to this college,” Haller said. “This is a significant gift and one of the largest estate gifts we’ve ever received. It allows us to strengthen the foundation of the college.”
Next Sunday, the church will acknowledge the value of the gift during worship service, and members of the Evans family have been invited to participate.
Rev. Trojak said the Evanses’ bequest shows God gives each person a responsibility to use his or her talents, and that responsibility does not end at death. Through their wills, people can continue to make positive contributions to their communities.
“As a church, we need to be responsible stewards of this money,” Rev. Trojak said. “If we’re not, it will discourage other people from leaving a legacy. You have to be trustworthy with what you leave.”
Even though the church budget has jumped from $148,000 in 2003, before the first gift installment was made, to $228,000 this year, church officials still have to pinch pennies and fret over utility bills.
“The reality is, we’re as tight right now as we’ve ever been,” Rev. Trojak said. “The gas bills gave kicked us in the teeth like it did everyone else.”
The same holds true at the Buhl Club. Valentino said it amazes him that the club still opens its doors every day when it gets 92 percent of its funds from memberships, and there seems to be no way to control utility bills. He said he was browsing through the minutes from a 1903 board meeting, the year the club opened, and the club was already in debt.
Club officials are looking for a significant way to honor the Evanses’ gift and show to others what kind of legacy they could leave, Valentino said.
