The Making of a Scholarship

Over the years, Robert "Bob" Hillstrom '70, a constant companion to his late wife, Patricia, had given a lot of thought to his experience at William Mitchell—a predecessor school of Mitchell Hamline—and how his legal education launched his successful law career. William Mitchell also launched the career of one of their sons, Scott Hillstrom '84.

So, at his regular estate plan review with his attorney, Gregory Van Heest, '90 LL.M., of Gries & Lenhardt in St. Michael, Minn., Bob mentioned adding William Mitchell to his trust.

Early in the discussions, Bob contacted William Mitchell's development office and spoke to Marie Ruzek '01, one of the development officers, about his thoughts for a legacy gift to the law school. And then Bob did something that very few people who are considering an estate gift do. He gave Marie permission to work directly with Greg, his estate planning advisor, thereby ensuring that his goals were met and the process was simple.

During law school, Bob had received a full-tuition scholarship, making it possible for him to attend law school while he was supporting his young family. When Bob heard that William Mitchell had no privately funded full-tuition scholarships, he knew that was how he wanted to help.

He created the $2 million Robert A. and Patricia L. Hillstrom Scholarship Fund, which will provide full-tuition scholarships to one or more students after their first and/or second year. The scholarship honors the lifework and generosity of Bob and Patricia. To preserve the purpose and meaning behind this wonderful legacy gift, Marie drafted language in the scholarship agreement that highlights matters of importance to Bob, including his lifelong friendship with Judge Ronald Hachey '43; acknowledgement of his and Patricia's son, Scott, who has established a foundation that has saved the lives of thousands of children; Bob's strong belief in the separation of church and state; and a memorial to Patricia, who was a "wonderfully compassionate person, raised their family and was an active community volunteer."

"It's a tremendously good feeling to give back," Bob says about his scholarship endowment. "I hope the scholarship enables some students to have a career as satisfying as mine." Creating the endowment was gratifying for his advisors, too. "It is rewarding to know that I was able to help facilitate Bob's generous gift," Greg says. "And it has been fun for me to experience how much joy the process of making the gift can bring to an individual."