Lutherhaven receives a quarter million dollar
bequest from Bruce & Marilyn Sweeney
Bruce and Marilyn Sweeney shared their good fortune in life with a variety of charitable causes, including Lutherhaven Ministries. Over the years the Sweeney’s contributed both financially to the annual fund and to capital projects, plus with gifts-in-kind of lumber and other building materials for many camp building projects. There's hardly a new building on camp that doesn’t include a Sweeney 2-by-6 in the framing!
In addition to their financial and volunteer support through their lives (Bruce served on the ministry's Board of Directors for two terms,) the Sweeney’s were also camp Legacy Partners, leaving over $260,000 to Lutherhaven Ministries through their estate plan.
Marilyn passed away in January, 2009 and Bruce followed her to heaven's home that August. Lutherhaven is extremely grateful to Bruce and Marilyn for their faithful generosity to camp as they forever linked their blessed past to Lutherhaven’s vibrant future!
Since his days as a youngster, Bruce Sweeney was a runner, both figuratively and literally. Beginning with his school years in Lewiston, Idaho, Bruce was a standout track and field athlete. After setting numerous records in high school, he continued his athletic endeavors at the University of Idaho, specializing in high and low hurdles, high jump and long jump.
He was perhaps most proud of the fact that no one from WSU ever beat him in the hurdles!
Bruce graduated in marketing from the University of Idaho in 1954, then was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force through the ROTC program and went on to become a jet pilot. Despite the rigors of pilot training and regular flight duty, Bruce found time to be a track competitor for the Air Force, and was a finalist for the U. S. Olympic track team in 1956 in the 400-meter hurdles.
Bruce continued to run in fun-runs and other events throughout his life, saying, “At my age, it gets easier all the time to win a medal because the competition has thinned out!” From 1976 to 2003, he was a regular race starter at the Idaho state high school track meet in Boise, missing only one year in that 28-year span. In 1992, he was honored as an inductee into the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame for track and field.
Music was another big love of Bruce’s. He was actively involved in Vandaleers during his entire college career, was choir director at his fraternity and later, was choir director at Trinity Lutheran in Lewiston. Politics and public service also played a role in the Sweeney household. He served extended terms in both the Idaho House of Representatives and the state Senate, retiring in 1998, and served on innumerable local and state commissions, boards and committees, and was a commissioner on the Idaho State Board of Transportation.
Bruce and his wife, Marilyn, who received a UI degree in home economics in 1954, raised three children. The Sweeney’s operated Sweeney Supply Company in Lewiston, selling it to Pay ‘n Pak in 1973. Bruce was also associated with Craft Wall of Oregon, Inc., was a partner in Craftin Management of Lewiston, and was owner/partner in a number of multi-unit apartment complexes in the Northwest, particularly those for the elderly and disabled.
Lutherhaven and the University of Idaho were Bruce and Marilyn’s two big passions, and their will benefited both equally. The Sweeney’s didn’t forget their own children and grandchildren by these bequests. Instead, they essentially made Lutherhaven and the U of I a part of their family.
Bruce once said, “One of our goals is to minimize estate taxes. But even if the estate tax is totally repealed, we will still make substantial provisions for Lutherhaven and these other charities.”
Marilyn added, “Our times at Lutherhaven were among the most memorable of our lives. We feel it’s only right to give back to the place that’s meant so much to us.”
Lutherhaven Endowment through the years
Fund pays 4% annually to camp for special projects and initiatives, and still grows substantially each year!