CHARLOTTE — Students in seven Catholic schools across the diocese will receive a total of $68,000 in financial aid from the C. Philip Johnston-Aline W. Kaneer Scholarship Fund, paying all their tuition for the 2026-2027 academic year.
The fund was created by Johnston with $4 million from his estate after his death in 2017.
Johnston was born in Charlotte and then lived all over the country before retiring in the Southeast. He attended Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and earned a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1958. He began his career in the entertainment industry, and under the stage name of Kelly Kinnear, he worked with Hollywood legends including Jack Benny, Ed Sullivan and George C. Scott. When acting work became scarce, he took what was intended to be temporary job working for Conrad Hilton in a new credit card venture called Carte Blanche. He rose to success in the emerging industry and, after reaching the position of senior vice president at a large regional bank in St. Louis, he left to lead a nonprofit specializing in consumer credit counseling.
“I first met with Mr. Johnston back in 1989. He made his decision to put this (scholarship) gift in his estate back then,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development. “He never wavered from that commitment, despite the fact that he moved away from the diocese later in life.”
Students from all 20 Catholic schools in the Diocese of Charlotte are eligible for scholarship awards from the fund. The schools that students will attend this year are Our Lady of Assumption in Charlotte, Our Lady of Mercy and St. Leo schools in Winston-Salem, Sacred Heart School in Salisbury, Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville, Immaculata Catholic School in Hendersonville, and St. Mark in Huntersville.
The scholarship awarded to each student ranges from $5,600 to $17,042, depending on tuition cost and need. Each student can continue receiving assistance through the scholarship fund for the length of their academic career as long as they remain eligible.
Kelley noted, “Philip Johnston is one of over 1,900 people who told us they are caring for the needs of the Church by leaving some entity in our diocese in their estate plans. Whether we have already received those gifts or will receive them decades down the road, we remain grateful to their commitment to the Church.”
Since 1986, entities including parishes, schools and ministries have received more than 70 gifts of $1 million or more from individuals such as Johnston, typically to help fund capital projects or endowments.
— Catholic News Herald