Note: This message was originally sent on October 30, 2018
Colleagues:
Our team has made it a priority – this year and going forward – to step-up efforts of expressing gratitude to those who have supported Gonzaga and our students. One way we are doing this is to make sure we know and can then share the stories of GU’s benefactors. I have decided to start a new tradition and will be sharing some of these stories with you… just something to look forward to on Tuesdays!
Enjoy the below... Johnston, Fix, and Liz Hanson family impact at GU:
Ina H. Johnston Scholarship
Ina’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Hughes, came to Spokane after the great fire of 1889. Hughes Hall is named after her brother, Edward Hughes, who was a Gonzaga Regent. Ina Hughes was a 1920 graduate of Smith College, and she married Eric Johnston in 1922. One of the first women to be named a Gonzaga Regent, she was also honored with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree in 1973 and the DeSmet Medal in 1977. Ina was an active volunteer in the Spokane community, serving not only at Gonzaga but also at the Hutton Settlement, Spokane Library, Spokane Arts Commission, WAMPUM, Civic Theater, the national Traveler’s Aid Society, Family Counseling Service, YWCA, and on the national board of the American Association of University Women. Throughout her involvement in the community, she always placed higher education on her priority list. Eric began his business career selling vacuum cleaners door-to-door, and eventually founded Columbia Electric and Manufacturing Company, which operated two enterprises, one a wholesale electrical supplier and the other a plant which manufactured commercial lighting fixtures (later called Columbia Lighting). He started the family foundation in 1948. The Johnstons’ two daughters, Harriet (Fix) and Elizabeth ‘Liz’ (Hanson), ran the foundation until 1989 when it was divided into two parts. They are now known as the Johnston-Fix and Johnston-Hanson Foundations. Liz was a Gonzaga Regent from 1973-1984 and was a Trustee from 1984-2008. Both Foundations continue to give generously to Gonzaga University. Ina started this scholarship for students with financial need in 1977. She also established an endowed scholarship in her husband’s name in 1967. In 1984, the busy corridor of Boone Avenue just outside of College Hall was transformed into the walking mall with culs-de-sac and sculpted grounds we recognize today, named the Johnston Family Mall after Eric and Ina. Ina passed away on August 8, 1991, at the age of 95. Between the Ina H. Johnston Scholarship and the Eric A. Johnston Scholarship, 164 unique, individual students have benefited from $766,518 in awards (since 1995, when data began recording in Banner).