Belmont University received a major gift today from an old neighbor. The estate of Ed and Bernice Johnson donated $10 million to the school’s endowment, which now stands at $75 million.
Belmont President Bob Fischer says the Johnsons’ used to own the Esso gas station – what is now the Circle-K – across from the school on Belmont Boulevard.
“The students would come over to his station, buy things and be a part of that, and he was just so impressed with the quality of the Belmont students and their character and who they were that he said he wanted in invest in their future.”
This is the Johnson’s third gift, making their total contribution to the school well over 18-million dollars.
The Johnsons made a large share of their money after investing in the company of another Belmont neighbor, H.W. Lay, of Lay’s Potato Chips. Ed Johnson passed away in 1994 and his wife, Bernice, in 1998.
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