The Fort Atkinson Community Foundation is pleased to announce it has received a gift of $10,000 from the estate of Allan and Wilma Haukom. “A meaningful and most welcome gift,” noted Foundation chairman Dean Brown, “that has been directed to our Beautification Fund where it will continue to support projects to improve the community that the Haukoms loved so much.”
Wilma Highland and Allan Haukom met as undergraduates at Iowa State University and married on September 3, 1939. They spent most their married life in Wisconsin, moving to Fort Atkinson in 1956. Here they raised five children and together spent the next six decades devoting themselves to serving and caring for their adopted hometown. Al died in 2007 and Wilma passed away in June of 2015.
With good humor, humility and kindness, Al and Wilma worked tirelessly on behalf of a wide variety of organizations in our community. In roles ranging from volunteers to members to presidents, the Haukoms made significant contributions to the American Association of University of Women’s local chapter, Hoard Historical Museum and National Dairy Shrine, Trinity Lutheran Church, Beautification Council, Fort Atkinson Rotary Club, American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, Chamber of Commerce, Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, Fort Memorial Hospital, and the School District of Fort Atkinson’s Board of Education. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a local organization that didn’t benefit from their incredible energy, commitment and generosity.
“Mom and Dad loved Fort Atkinson,” recalled their daughter, Linda Winn, “and believed it to be a very active and caring community in which to live and raise their family. They embodied that belief through their selfless volunteerism in so many different areas. The FACF board’s decision to direct their gift to the Beautification Fund is a perfect tribute to them, as many of their efforts went into preserving and enhancing the beauty of this city.”
The Beautification Fund is a perfect spot for the Haukoms’ gift, agreed Sue Hartwick, the Foundation’s administrator. She pointed out that the most recent projects to earn grants from that fund – the roofing of the corner blocks of the Fort replica in Rock River Park, the extension of the Al Haukom Riverwalk downtown, and the new Embraced Playground in Jones Park – all would have been heartily endorsed by the Haukoms.
For more information about the Fort Atkinson Community Foundation, visit www.fortfoundation.org or contact Hartwick at (920) 563-3210 or via email at facf@fortfoundation.org.
Published July 5, 2016