RUDYARD (AP)
A woman who plans a $2.7 million bequest to Montana State University also intends to provide $2 million for Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn., and $300,000 for Montana's Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp. MSU said earlier this month that the gift of $2.7 million from Evelyn Wanke, after her death, will move the College of Agriculture closer to paying for a new teaching and research building. Mrs. Wanke recently told the Great Falls Tribune that in her estate planning she named MSU, Concordia and the Lutheran camp "because they were my husband's pet projects." Harold Wanke died in 1995. "This is a memorial to him and is the result of stock he acquired in the bank," Mrs. Wanke said. Harold Wanke was the chairman of the board for Havre's Independence Bank of Montana, and was employed there for a time. A few years ago, Mrs. Wanke considered the inheritance taxes her heirs eventually would face in connection with the stock, and decided to establish a trust. The Wanke s were high school sweethearts in Rudyard. "I was offered a scholarship for the University of Montana and another for Concordia, but Harold was not, so I opted not to go," Mrs. Wanke said. The couple lived in the Shelby area, where she worked at Marias River Electric Cooperative, moving up from stenographer to office manager. "Then we were given the chance to lease my brother's farm near Rudyard," Mrs. Wanke said. Concordia will put its gift into a new campus center. "It's not unusual for people who are not alumni to support the college," said Eric Johnson, associate vice president for development at Concordia. "We offer a strongly church-based education experience. The Wankes are in the category of people who are generous to the college because they have a connection to the church college mission." Mrs. Wanke said her husband would have enjoyed being a veterinarian. Although MSU does not have a veterinary medicine program, the university does offer studies in animal biosciences. The Rev. Gary Cockrell, executive director of Flathead Lutheran Bible Camp, met the Wankes while preaching at their church when the regular pastors were on vacation. Cockrell stayed at the couple's farm, as well. "They operated their place as partners," Cockrell said. After her husband died, Mrs. Wanke sold the farm and moved into town.
