Slanser Fund Second Largest In Marion Community Foundation History

Joe Slanser engineered  a legacy for the Marion community, thanks to his lifelong love of  trains and railroads and family devotion to his church. His legacy will  benefit Marion Union Station and Epworth United Methodist Church with a  planned gift to Marion Community Foundation. Joe passed away on July 3, leaving $3.45 million in the Joe Slanser Fund.

According to Marion Community Foundation’s president and CEO Dean Jacob, the Slanser gift is the second largest donation from an individual in the 20 year history of the Foundation.

“Because  this was a planned gift, we had the opportunity to thank Joe for his  incredible generosity,” said Jacob. “We appreciate this opportunity and  this gift to the community. This fund will bear Joe’s name and support  the causes important to him with annual grants, literally forever.”

Rev.  David Hoffman, Senior Pastor of Epworth United Methodist Church, said,  “Joe’s extraordinary gift is an outstanding example of the generosity  and faithfulness of our congregation.  Epworth has a strong history of  serving the community of Marion and this gift will enable us to be an  even stronger advocate. The founder of the Methodist movement, John  Wesley, believed in this kind of generosity and lived his life in a way  that instructed us to ‘earn all you can, give all you can, save all you  can.’  Joe’s life and generosity mirrored this philosophy, and we are  eternally grateful for his wisdom and actions.”

Love of community was modeled by “Joe Junior’s” parents. His father, Joseph, owned and operated the Slanser Lumber  & Coal Company, building homes throughout the city and selling coal  to heat them. An avid golfer, Joe Sr. also helped build the Marion  Country Club – and personally knew Marion native and golf enthusiast  President Warren G. Harding.

It  was from his father’s upper level office at the corner of Wilson and  Greenwood Streets where 4-year-old Joe Junior began watching the  hundreds of trains whistle past, sometimes stopping to deliver lumber  and coal from North Carolina, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, and  Pennsylvania. Young Joe learned early on to identify the Chesapeake  & Ohio, Erie, N.Y. Central, and other freight and passenger trains  by their unique whistles – and could imitate many of them.

“During  World War II, I’d watch troop trains pick up soldiers at the Marion  Depot,” Joe recalled during a 2016 interview, eyes twinkling at the  memory. “I was about 10-years-old at the time. I’d ride my bike down to  the Depot every day during the summer, sit on a baggage wagon, and watch  the trains approach. I was just fascinated by them.”

Following  graduation from Harding High School in 1950, Joe worked briefly for the  Erie Railroad, then attended The Ohio State University until he was  drafted by the U.S. Army in 1953. His interest in railroads continued,  but roared ahead during what became a 36-year career with GTE (now  Verizon and Frontier).

“I  learned all about electricity and electronics because I was constantly  building or repairing model trains,” he explained. “I’d read as many  books as I could about the subject, too.”

A  charter member of Marion’s Model Railroad Club (1950), Joe is credited  with helping to develop the Marion Union Station into a family-friendly  destination where visitors can relive the time when as many as 200  trains chugged through the city of Marion every day.

Pete  White, president of the Marion Union Station Association and friend of  Joe’s, recalled how Joe generously supported the Marion Union Station  both financially with annual gifts, as well as his time. 

“Joe  was so knowledgeable he had his own fans. He loved to sit at the  station and talk to everyone who came by,” said White. “He just loved to  talk about railroads.”

And, Slanser was always pleased by the number of people who shared his passion for trains.

“You  wouldn’t believe how many people are fascinated with trains –  especially now,” he said. “People come from all over to see how a real  train station operates – right here in Marion.”

The Joe Slanser legacy will also “make a stop” at his family’s longtime place of worship – Epworth United Methodist Church.

Joe credits philanthropy to his mother’s influence.

“My mother was a great educator,” Joe fondly recalled of his mother, Hazel Markwith Slanser,  who graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1912 with a degree in  education. “She has a reputation for being a very good teacher in  Marion. She understood children’s limitations, and she knew how to reach  them. She taught them how to be independent, how to be a thinker.”

Perhaps  the greatest lesson she gave her only child is now being brought to  life through her son Joe’s gift to the Marion community.

“She always told me, ‘You want to save money, son.’” A lesson learned, indeed.

Dan Wigton, Joe’s longtime  financial advisor, explained how he helped Joe see the value of creating  a forever legacy by creating a fund at the Marion Community Foundation.  

“It was important to Joe to  know his lifelong efforts in saving money will forever benefit the  Marion organizations closest to his heart,” Wigton said. “Utilizing the  Foundation ensures professional management of the donor’s funds and  the awarding of perpetual annual charitable grants – and that’s exactly what Joe wanted.”

The Joe Slanser Fund  joins the more than 275 charitable funds at Marion Community Foundation  which benefit the Marion area. Additional information is available  online at marioncommunityfoundation.org  or by calling 740-387-9704.


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