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Reinhardt officials and more than 50
Fincher family members and friends celebrated a generous gift
from the late Sen. William W. Fincher Jr. – a Cherokee County
native – with a luncheon on Sunday, July 15. This gift funds the
College’s first endowed chair, the William W. Fincher, Jr. Chair
of the Visual Arts. The luncheon honoring Mr. Fincher and his
late wife took place on Reinhardt’s Waleska, Ga., campus in the
building bearing their names: the William W. Fincher Jr. and
Eunice L. Fincher Visual Arts Center.
“Reinhardt was always a very important
school for my father,” said Mary Jane Peterson, the Finchers’
oldest of three daughters. “He admired its goals as a
Christian-based institution, and because it’s a Methodist school
– that was a very important part of his love for Reinhardt.
Father’s love of Reinhardt grew out of his family’s involvement
with the school over several generations.”
In 1997, the senator and his wife set up a
Charitable Remainder Unitrust, payable to Reinhardt following
their deaths. The Finchers’ daughters – Peterson, Phyllis
Parsons and Frances Hansford – decided to use the trust’s
earnings to establish the Fincher Chair. In addition, the trust
will provide maintenance funds for the Fincher Visual Arts
Center, for which Mr. Fincher and his wife gave the naming gift
in 1997.
The ties between the Fincher family and the
College are long and strong. Mr. Fincher’s parents both attended
Reinhardt. In the late 1800s, Mr. Fincher’s paternal
grandparents lived in the area and all nine of their children
received their education at Reinhardt. During that time, Mr.
Fincher’s maternal grandparents, the Chambers, moved to Waleska
so their 10 children could attend Reinhardt. In those days,
Reinhardt taught students from first grade through two years of
college. Over the years, many Fincher and Chambers descendants
have attended Reinhardt.
In the early 1970s, Mr. and Mrs. Fincher
initiated another milestone for Reinhardt – its first off-campus
center. They asked that classes be offered in Chatsworth, Ga.,
because they felt their community would benefit from students
earning their degrees close to home. The College’s Chatsworth
Center operated from 1975 though 1996 with many of its alumni
becoming business, civic and educational leaders.
“This College has a wonderful history of
families who have come forward with support – the Finchers are
such a family,” Reinhardt President Dr. J. Thomas Isherwood
said. “They have brought a legacy of service and generosity to
this College, and we are most grateful. They understood what the
Reinhardt experience meant to our young people, and they chose
to further it by supporting the arts.”
In 1935, Mr. Fincher and his brother, Jack
Fincher, opened a drug store in Chatsworth. An entrepreneur at
heart, Mr. Fincher enjoyed success running the store and
operating drive-in theatres. He also did well in banking and
politics. In 1964, Mr. Fincher was elected to the Georgia State
Senate, where he represented Murray, Whitfield and Catoosa
counties for 26 years.
Lifelong Methodists, the Finchers were
active members of Chatsworth First United Methodist Church for
more than 70 years. They also were very involved in their local
community.
Ten years ago, after giving the naming gift
for the College’s visual arts center, the senator said,
“Reinhardt College augmented the Christian and educational
upbringing in the homes of both the Finchers and Chambers of
Cherokee County, and in turn, influenced the lives of their
descendents. The College has served the North Georgia area in
its mission to educate students in a Christian environment. My
desire to show gratitude to Reinhardt led to this gift in memory
of my parents. The gift is a symbol of my belief in the values
for which Reinhardt stands and the role it has played in the
lives of those it has touched.” |
