Money will be used to provide free Catholic education to students throughout diocese
CHARLOTTE — An estate gift from a credit card executive who went on to create a nationally-recognized personal finance curriculum to help young people manage debt will soon help pay for children in the Diocese of Charlotte to go to Catholic school for free.
Before his death earlier this year, C. Philip Johnston set up the “C. Philip Johnston – Aline W. Kaneer Scholarship Fund” with $4 million from his estate.
All 19 Catholic schools in the diocese will be able to request money annually from the fund, which is expected to generate approximately $200,000 in scholarships each year. The money will be used to pay the full tuition cost for students who qualify for aid.
Johnston, a Catholic convert, was born in Charlotte but lived all over the country before retiring in the Southeast. He attended Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Md., which is where he made the decision to enter the Church, according to his nephew Greg Johnston. He earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1958. He worked in the entertainment industry, but when acting work became scarce, he took a “temporary job” working for Conrad Hilton in a new credit card venture called Carte Blanche.
He rose to success in the emerging credit card industry and, after reaching the position of senior vice president at a large regional bank in St. Louis, he left the banking side of the credit card industry to lead a non-profit organization specializing in consumer credit counseling. Johnston had recognized the need to teach people how to manage personal debt, so he partnered with a national group of educators and economists to create a curriculum in personal finance for children in kindergarten through 12th grade.
He passed away in April at the age of 88.
“We have known since 1989 that Mr. Johnston was going to do something in the way of an estate gift,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan development director.
“We are so grateful for this transformative gift.”
Those like Johnston who make a planned gift to the diocese or any of its parishes, schools, ministries or agencies become members of the Catholic Heritage Society. The society is the diocese’s way of honoring the Christian generosity of Catholic friends who are providing for the future of the Church in western North Carolina.
The Catholic Heritage Society is comprised of more than 900 people in the diocese, many of whom are leaving gifts to the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation in their wills. Since 1994, the foundation has distributed more than $7 million to the diocese and its parishes, schools and ministries.
Johnston’s gift is the second gift of at least $4 million to the diocese in the past year.
The other gift was an endowment bequeathed to St. Barnabas Church received through the generosity of Dennis and Mary Kushler, who quietly left the parish a $4.1 million endowment after their deaths. It is the single largest estate gift in the history of the Church in North Carolina.
The Kushlers’ endowment will provide the parish with an estimated $205,000 annual income initially, and it will grow over time. It is a general purpose endowment, so the money can be used to help in whatever way the parish decides.
Kelley noted, “More and more people across the diocese are remembering the Church in their estate plans – gifts from thousands of dollars to millions – and we are thankful for their generosity.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter