MOUNT VERNON — Thanks to a gift of more than $2 million from the estate of a one-time student in memory of her newspaperman father, Cornell College will establish a scholarship program for students with an interest in communications.
Cornell has received 53,323 shares of Lee Enterprises Inc. stock — valued at $2,084,929 — from the estate of Betty Geer Dillon, who attended Cornell in 1942-43 and was the daughter of a 1914 Cornell graduate, Lloyd Geer. She was a former bank teller who died July 10, 2001, in Mason City. She was 77. Cornell had received a gift of $84,190 from her estate in July 2002.
Lloyd Geer was the editor of the Royal Purple yearbook and a member of the Cornell basketball team. He worked for Lee Enterprises at its newspaper in Mason City, eventually becoming the advertising manager of the Mason City Globe Gazette.
“He became successful in his career, active in the community and transferred a commitment to education and community activity to his daughter,” said Cornell President Les Garner. “We are honored to include Betty among those whose generosity has sustained a quality Cornell education for 150 years.”
The estate gift is one of the 10 largest single gifts to Cornell. It will go toward a scholarship program to benefit students with an interest in communications, the Lloyd L. Geer Scholarship and Loan Fund.
“Betty idolized him. He was a very nice man, very much in love with Cornell,” said her executor, attorney John Whitesell of Iowa Falls. “This is a wonderful gift that will benefit a lot of young people.”
The estate also distributed gifts of Lee Enterprises stock, valued at $1,563,687, each to North Iowa Area Community College, where Dillon graduated, and Mercy Medical Center Foundation, North Iowa, both in Mason City. Dillon asked that the community college use the money for scholarships and that Mercy use the money to support cancer patients.