Our History

Carl L. Broughton

Where it all began…

Marietta Community Foundation was founded in 1974 and headed by the late Carl L. Broughton. The Foundation became relatively dormant before being reactivated in 1992 through a sizable gift from two former Marietta residents, Mary Carolyn McCoy Mildren and William E. Mildren Sr. They established a trust in memory of their late parents to be used as a challenge grant encouraging community leader Robert E. Kirkbride to revitalize the Foundation.

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Under Kirkbride's supervision, a new Board of Governors was formed. In 1995, the Foundation received a bequest of $2.4 million from the late Lillian Strecker Smith. Although the J. Frank and Lillian S. Smith gift was unrestricted, it came with a strong directive that the Foundation focused on the needs of the elderly in the community as well as St. Mary's Catholic Parish and Marietta College. This exceptionally generous gift, along with many others, provides the Foundation with unrestricted resources that make it the envy of small community foundations everywhere. It also allows the Foundation to maintain its commitment to administering more than 350 different funds without charging an administration fee.

Today, Marietta Community Foundation has grown beyond $50 million in assets and oversees more than 350 funds. More importantly, it has distributed nearly $30 million to charities during its 50-year lifespan.


Past Board Members

Arlene Archer
David C. Barrett
Ron K. Bishop
Kin Brewer
Mary S. Broughton
John A. Burnworth
Cheryl Carver Cook
Jennifer Christy
James M. Couts
Jonathan Dehmlow
William H. Donnelly
Eric Erb
Robert E. Evans
Sally Evans
Prudence A. Fields
William A. Fields
Frances B. Flanders
Dr. Bret Frye
Jean G. Graham
Carol A. Gutberlet
Ethel S. Guthrie
Elizabeth L. Hadler
Charles K. Heckler
Hubert C. Holland

Louise Holmes
Joan Hushion
Michael B. Iaderosa
Robert E. Kirkbride
Tawni Love
Jack A. Moberg
Deane H. Northrup, M.D.
Karen Osborne

Doug Robinson
Carol Schneeberger
Mark Schwendeman
Enos L. Singer
Emmett K. Smelser
Paul T. Theisen
William H. Thompson

Marcy Wesel
Dee Wetz
Johnny Wharff
David A. Whitehead
James R. Williams
Bonnie L. Witten

Deceased


Steering Committee

David B. Baker
Carl L. Broughton
Frances B. Flanders
Elizabeth L. Hadler

Robert E. Kirkbride
William E. Mildren, Sr.
Norman J. Murray
Emmett K. Smelser

Teri Ann Zide


Current & Past Directors (In Order)

Heather Allender (current)
Carol B. Wharff
William H. Thompson
Jack Moberg
Bret Bicoy
Carol B. Wharff
Connie Struebing
Robert E. Kirkbride