This holiday season 10 nonprofits will receive a surprise gift from the estate of a local philanthropist who was known for his giving spirit.
Howard Hughes passed in December 2011, but his spirit of giving has lived on through donations from his estate and will continue to do so through several permanent endowments at the Brown County Community Foundation.
To mark 10 years since Hughes passed on Dec. 11 his estate has announced that 10 local nonprofits will each receive $1,000 grants to further their missions.
The nonprofits receiving a surprise gift are: Nashville United Methodist Church; Brown County Volunteer Fire Department; Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department; Mother’s Cupboard Community Kitchen; Brown County Historical Society; Brown County YMCA; Brown County Schools for its Early Learning Center; Brown County Public Library for its solar project; Riversong Music/ChamberFest; Peaceful Valley Heritage Preservation for the Kin Hubbard Historic Marker.
The selected nonprofits do not have to do anything to get the grant and will receive a check from the community foundation before the end of the year.
Hughes believed philanthropy was a civic responsibility and enjoyed giving back while encouraging his community to do the same. Often Hughes would provide grants with a matching component, meaning he would match any donation made to a nonprofit or organization in the community.
Hughes did not grow up in Brown County, but he considered the hills here home.
“He had long range visions for his life and for Brown County,” said his estate executor Marcia Likens.
Likens and Hughes first met in 1997 when they served on the board for Big Brothers, Big Sisters in Brown County. They remained lifelong friends and were in “constant communication” after Likens moved away.
Hughes did not have any children. He left Likens in charge of his estate after his passing, which is a responsibility Likens does not take lightly.
She works with attorney Bill Lloyd who established the trust for Hughes to decide which projects to support in the county. Since Hughes passed away the community has received over $1 million in direct support from grants thanks to the estate.
But perhaps the community best knows Hughes for starting the annual morel mushroom sale in the Brown County IGA parking lot. Each spring pounds and pounds of morel mushrooms are sold with profits divided between the mushroom seller’s charity and the charity the morel buyer chooses.
After Hughes’ death, the event was renamed the Howard Hughes Memorial Morel Mushroom Sale.
“His idea was he believed in philanthropy, but he believed in anybody can participate in providing for the nonprofits that provide for our community,” Likens said.
“He did a lot of challenge grants, but doing the morel sale was just such a fun way to introduce people to the idea of giving.”
Hughes had the big ideas and was a visionary, but was not a detail person, so that’s where Likens stepped in. Hughes would make the long trip to pick up the mushrooms while Likens helped to organize the event itself, even weighing out the mushrooms.
“He was the big idea man, but someone needed to take over the details. It worked for him all of his life. There was always a detail-oriented person,” Likens said.
Even after his passing, Likens continues to fill in the details for Hughes and his wish to continue to give back to the community.
Wealth from quarters
Hughes’ only instruction for charitable giving after his passing was that his estate support organizations and programs that “enrich the lives of Brown County residents,” Likens said.
“Howard created his lifestyle in Brown County based on being a member of the community,” she said.
In the 1960s Hughes moved to Brown County while he was working at Arvin Industries in Columbus. He later retired as the director of finance in 1979 after 10 years working there.
Growing up he lived in Montezuma, Indiana and was the youngest of three boys. His mother passed away when he was a young teen.
“That time period, after his mom got sick, was just really hard on him and he had to put himself through college,” Likens said.
He graduated from Kokomo High School in 1958. He attended Purdue and Butler universities before going on to earn a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University in 1969.
After retiring from Arvin Industries, he started Sparkle Car Wash in Columbus with his brother. Eventually the brothers separated the business and Hughes opened up coin-operated car washes in Columbus, Seymour and Franklin.
He was a busy guy, traveling around, checking on them all of the time. The banker used to say that Howard would bring in a five gallon bucket of quarters,” Likens said.
“He truly built his wealth from quarters.”
He sold his last car wash in 2006.
When he first moved to Brown County, Hughes was out wearing one of his two coats burning debris on his property in Gnaw Bone when he reported having one of his many epiphanies, Likens said.
“He said when he was out there burning the debris he realized that he was going to be OK. He was going to be successful because he had two coats. For the first time in his life he had two coats,” she said.
Hughes also rented a home on Somerset Lake in the 1960s. When property went up for sale across from him on the lake he bought it.
“The land sat there for years. In the early 90s he was single and decided to build a log home in Brown County,” Likens said.
”He was able to purchase a couple of more lots right beside that lot he bought in the 60s and that’s where he built his house. It took him 30 years to ever build on it,” Likens said.
It was important to Hughes that his home be a “reflection of nature” and that it be filled with art by Brown County artists, like paintings, tapestries and pottery.
When he passed away his art collection was donated to the humane society who then held a silent auction to raise money for the SPOT program, which was one of the many programs Hughes was involved in over his decades of community service here.
During his time in the county he was a member of many nonprofit boards including the humane society, the communtiy foundation, Mother’s Cupboard, the Career Resource Center and the Brown County Rotary Club. His dedication to nonprofits is reflected in his giving back to the community.
His giving spirit is evident throughout the community from the railing designs inside and outside of the library, which Hughes paid for, to the newest dog park in Nashville, which his estate paid for after his passing. Polly’s Bark Park is named in memory of a friend of Hughes who also loved animals.
Positive impact
Hughes based his lifestyle on his “ability to have a positive impact on the community by supporting the things that were lacking in his youth and his upbringing,” Likens said.
Hughes was a lover of the performing arts. He was around 20 years old the first time he watched a live performance at Indiana Repertory Theatre.
“He was just enamored then with the performing arts,” Likens said.
While working on the board of Big Brothers, Big Sisters Hughes sponsored all of the Bigs, Littles and the families of Littles to go see a live holiday show at the Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis. But when fewer Bigs and Littles were able to make the journey up to Indianapolis in the winter Hughes decided to bring the performing arts to the children in Brown County.
“He didn’t want them to miss out on it,” Likens said.
Hughes then worked to bring a demonstration of modern dance performed by the Indianapolis dance company Dance Kaleidoscope to the elementary schools here.
According to the Brown County Democrat archives, students “were given the opportunity to be exposed to an art form which many of them would not have observed,” former Brown County Schools Superintendent David Shaffer said.
From that experience the concept of elementary students in Brown County performing an opera was born. The students would work with professional opera company performers from the Indianapolis Opera Company and professional dancers with Dance Kaleidoscope to put an opera show each year.
Hughes then provided the funding to make it all a reality. The first show was “Carmen” performed by Helmsburg Elementary School students in 2008. Each elementary school — at the time there were four with the former Nashville Elementary School — would take turns each year putting on a show.
The opera show at Helmsburg Elementary in 2012, “H.M.S. Pinafore,” was dedicated in honor of Hughes who passed less than two months earlier.
Hughes loved to see the light in the eyes of children when performing.
“The creative energy,” Likens said.
“He went to the rehearsals. It was so emotional to him to see the kids responding to the performing arts.”
In the same realm of giving, Hughes’ estate also donated money to the Brown County Playhouse to purchase its building and ensure that programming continued there.
“Howard’s legacy in our community is one of transformational philanthropy,” said Brown County Community Foundation CEO Maddison Miller.
“His gifts to Brown County have changed the course of our history by investing over $1.2 million into important issues, ideas and institutions.”
Hughes also served on the community foundation board and provided the funding to purchase its current building along with creating the administrative endowment there.
“Whether it be outright gifts that have resulted in physical construction, matching gifts that have inspired the community to donate or endowments that serve our nonprofits in perpetuity, the ultimate impact of his charity is nearly immeasurable,” Miller said.
Other grants from the estate were given to the Brown County Art Gallery to refurbish the gallery’s valut.
“He would pitch in financial support during some tough times and after his death, his trust provided funding for gallery projects,” said Lyn Letsinger-Miller, the Brown County Art Gallery Foundation president.
Money has been given to organizations to sponsor different rooms in new buildings. The Hughes Hall in the Brown County Historical Society’s History Center was funded by a grant from the estate along with the Dr. James Brester Intake Room and the manager’s office in the new Brown County Humane Society Shelter.
“Howard’s generosity started many years ago, when he believed in the SPOT program and the need to help Brown County pet owners find support for their beloved pets,” said Brown County Humane Society President Sue Ann Werling.
“We are so thankful for his wonderful contributions and friendship over the years.”
Money was also given to support the humane society’s SPOT program.
Grant funding was also given to Mother’s Cupboard Soup Kitchen to support the construction of its new facility and meal programs.
“He sat on the board for several years, and played the curmudgeon who always pushed the board to look at the cupboard from a sustainable business point of view. He was also a great friend and always encouraged us to think big and take risks,” said Jim Oliver, with Mother’s Cupboard.
Along with receiving grant funding to support performing art programs, the school district also received money to support the We the People program and pay lunch debt of families in need.
“How do you quantify the influence of a young student being exposed to the opera or another having the opportunity to participate in a national We the People competition? How do you measure the joy brought to countless families whose pets were rescued by the Humane Society and now get to run and play in Polly’s Bark Park? The empty bellies that have been filled? The art which has inspired?” Miller said.
Miller never met Hughes personally, but she said she has learned that Howard’s “head and heart were complimentary when it came to charitable giving.
“As a savvy businessman, he sought out organizations and programs that were skilled at strategy and performance measurement,” she said.
“Yet, he was authentic, compassionate, and understood not all outcomes are measured linearly.”
