When Lynne Gourley Farrell ’62 was growing up, her parents were always helping a family in need. “Her sense of benevolence came from our mother and father as well as our church,” Judy Gourley Kamishlian ’59 said of her late sister, who held such a deep appreciation for her Mary Washington education that she spent the rest of her life giving back to her alma mater.
When she passed away on Aug. 27, 2020, Lynne left UMW a generous estate gift that helped establish the Lynne Gourley Farrell ’62 Fund for Mary Washington Endowment. Now part of her legacy, her endowment will help strengthen and grow the University and enhance the experience for current and future generations of students.
The unrestricted Fund for Mary Washington underpins every aspect for which the University is known and loved – a leading liberal arts and sciences education, small class sizes, personal relationships with professors and classmates, low student debt upon graduation, and more. Donors who give to the Fund help UMW’s leadership achieve a crucial flexibility to meet emerging student, faculty, and program opportunities.
“For Lynne, making unrestricted gifts was a thing of principle,” Judy said. “She always trusted Mary Washington to make the best and wisest decision when it came to her donations.”
Growing up in the small mill town of Fieldale, Virginia, Lynne and Judy’s parents were active in their church, fostering in their daughters a belief in helping others and an intellectual curiosity.
“They always expected us to go to college,” said Judy, who applied to Mary Washington because of its “reputation as an academically outstanding Virginia women’s college.” Lynne joined her, earning a degree in clothing and textiles, while studying art, music, and literature. “Our education opened up a bigger world for us, and Lynne took advantage of that.”
After graduation, Lynne worked in marketing for Thalhimers, a department store chain based in Richmond, and taught elementary school for several years, bonding with students who kept in touch with her over her lifetime. She also traveled extensively – with husband Paul and later with Judy – and was an advocate for education, community, and the arts, supporting the United Way, the Virginia Beach Foundation, and the ACCESS College Foundation, even endowing a scholarship in memory of a friend.
Lynne’s obituary, penned by Judy, recognizes UMW as the greatest benefactor of her gifts. At Lynne’s humble request, the sisters named the Gourley Living Room in the Cedric Rucker University Center in 2015, honoring their late parents and the values they instilled in them.
And yet, given her commitment to the Fund for Mary Washington, it seemed fitting that her endowment should bear her name. “She was proud to lead in this,” Judy said. “Lynne would want to inspire others to give, just as she did.”
For information about funding an endowment or to make a gift to the Fund for Mary Washington, visit giving.umw.edu or contact the Office of University Advancement at advance@umw.edu or 540-654-1024.
– This article by Assistant Director of Advancement Communications Jill Graziano Laiacona ’04 originally ran in the Fiscal Year 2023 Endowment Report.
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