Marian ’53 and Hobart Hinderliter believe that a university education is very important and should be available to all who want to earn a degree. That belief led them to endow the Marian Gardner Hinderliter and Hobart Hinderliter Scholarship Fund to support outstanding freshman students at Illinois State University who are beginning a business major. The Hinderliters are also in the process of endowing a College of Business professorship.
“We wanted to do something to benefit future students and to leave a lasting legacy to help people make a better life for themselves,” Marian said. “We feel that we have been blessed and, therefore, consider it both a privilege and an obligation to help others make the world a better place for all to enjoy.”
Marian received her bachelor’s degree in business education at Illinois State at a time when enrollment was 2,000 students. She said the only on-campus housing was Fell Hall for freshman women and Smith Hall for men. Marian lived in Fell Hall her first year and then moved off-campus while completing her degree. However, she still was connected to Fell Hall as she worked as a waitress there to receive her meals. Marian also worked in Psychology Professor Herman Tiedeman’s office during her senior year.
“The University is a very different campus today,” Marian said. “I am impressed by the tremendous growth and also the high caliber of students that Illinois State attracts today. I am tremendously impressed with the modern new buildings. How I would have liked to have had classes in the beautiful College of Business building, and I look forward to gathering at the lovely new Alumni Center.”
Marian might have graduated 55 years ago, but some of her professors still remain in her memory. “A very distinguished individual, Dr. Lewis Toll, was head of the Business Education department,” she said. “To this day, I still remember Alta Day and her shorthand classes along with Miss Webb, Miss Wheeler and Dr. Elsworthy and their business classes along with many other excellent teachers. There were no teaching assistants in my classes, and all business classes were held in ‘The Castle,’ Cook Hall.”
After Marian’s graduation, the Hinderliters married, Hobart entered the military and a lifetime of travel ensued. They lived in Chicago and Virginia before being stationed in Munich, Germany. The Hinderliters took advantage of the posting to travel to many European destinations. Over the next five decades, they traveled to Africa on a safari, cruised the Hawaiian Islands and journeyed to China, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Taiwain, Hong Kong and Hungary.
While Hobart has worked in Jacksonville, Ill., as a professional farm manager for the past 52 years, Marian was a stay-at-home mom to Alan, Janet and Steven. Alan is an associate professor of cardiology at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Janet is a principal scientist in quality and records management who authors scientific documents for the FDA for new drug products, and Steven is an electrical engineer with Analog Devices in Greensboro, N.C., and serves as the director of New Business Development for the High Speed Convertor group. The Hinderliters have three grandsons and are active in their church. Hobart has 52 years of perfect attendance with his Kiwanis group, and Marian plays bridge and volunteers at Passavant Hospital.
Hobart, a University of Illinois graduate, and Marian said after their children were grown and established in their careers, they started thinking about how to help others achieve a college degree. Their attorney told them to “prepare for gifting in your heart.”
“State schools in this present financial crunch need help to proceed forward,” the Hinderliters said. “We felt that it was our turn to accept the challenge and help since we had been helped. We established the Illinois State scholarship to help students who excelled academically and who were active in community and school activities. With the skyrocketing cost of a college education, we felt a need to help this type of student. We have been exceptionally pleased with the students who have been chosen for our scholarship: Timothy Pantaleone (03-04), Jacquelyn Pycz (04-05), Rees Mason (05-06), Kara Nottelmann (06-07), Valerie Melrose (07-08) and Kayla Savalick (08-09).”
