Looking Back, Looking Forward: Dennis Dondlinger Thankful to Doane for His Success
It was the end of the fall semester of 1961 and Dennis Dondlinger was contemplating his future.
Dennis had a full-ride basketball scholarship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln at the beginning of the semester, but he was ruled medically ineligible to compete by team doctors because of a shoulder injury. Dennis was driving home to Hebron when, by chance, he stopped for supper at Dorsey's Cafe in Crete.
After he'd sat down to eat, a tap on his shoulder startled him.
From that point forward, his life would be changed.
The man who tapped him on the shoulder was local businessman Ed Pallett, an ardent sports booster of Doane University. Ed introduced Dennis to Al Papik, Doane's athletic director, who soon offered him a scholarship to play basketball and run track for the Tigers.
Dennis accepted, transferred and, thanks to Track and Field Coach Fred Beile's gentle persuasion, also ended up running for the cross country team.
In the classroom, he studied teacher education under Professor Lowell E. Dodd.
It was because of that pivotal moment in Dorsey's Cafe that Dennis chose to give back to his alma mater—he recently purchased a two-life charitable gift annuity with plans to purchase another gift annuity in January 2015.
"I wanted to endow a scholarship at Doane," says Dennis, a 1966 graduate who now lives in Grand Island with his wife, Juanita. "I was very thankful for the direction that Doane gave to my life and wanted to give back in a similar fashion to the help I was given. People like Ed Pallet, Al Papik, Fred Beile and Lowell Dodd helped me on my way to a fruitful life."
The corpus of Dennis and Juanita's gift annuities will form the basis of the endowed scholarshipposthumously. In the meantime, the Dondlingers receive quarterly tax-preferred payments, as well as an income tax deduction. Dennis learned of gift annuities after reading an article in Doane Magazine that featured the purchase of a gift annuity by Paul Oppenheim '65, his former roommate.
"Someone was there for me when I received my scholarships," Dennis says. "I believe my life is better because of the education I received at Doane University."
Learn How You Can Help
To learn more about charitable gift annuities or other ways to support Doane University with a planned gift, contact Thom Reeves at 402.826.8284 or thomas.reeves@doane.edu today, at no obligation.