Widow’s $22-Million Gift Is a Surprise to Local Foundation

Those who knew Barbara Stokes Dewey remember a woman who was smart, good-humored, caring and strong-willed. They also assumed the former Missouri farm girl was financially comfortable.

But few guessed the Palos Verdes Estates resident was wealthy enough to make the largest-ever unrestricted bequest to a local foundation.

This facet of Dewey’s life came to light when the California Community Foundation revealed that it will receive an estimated $22 million over the next 20 years from the estate of Dewey, who died of leukemia Oct. 1 at age 72. Installments of about $1.1 million annually are to begin next September, the foundation announced.

In a gesture of some rarity, Dewey, a widow, gave the money to the foundation with no strings attached. Her gift will more than double the foundation’s $20-million pool of unrestricted funds, said president Jack Shakely, noting that the rest of the foundation’s $60-million endowment is restricted to specific institutions or geographic areas. Last year the foundation provided a total of $11 million from all sources to a wide array of charitable projects in Southern California, mainly in the areas of arts and humanities, education, environment, health, human services and public affairs. Perhaps most visibly, the foundation has spearheaded the renovation of the Watts Towers, both a landmark and a famous work of folk art.

“We were not aware of the magnitude of the bequest,” Shakely said, explaining that over the past three years he and Dewey had discussed a possible bequest on “two or three occasions.” Had he been pressed to estimate Dewey’s wealth, Shakely said he would have been “at least one decimal off.” He added, “Barbara did not show off her wealth.”

Others also expressed surprise at the amount of the bequest. “I did not realize she had that kind of money,” said Lon Burns, who met Dewey through his position as president of the Southern California Assn. for Philanthropy. “I was surprised but not shocked.”

And Stephen D. Gavin, chairman of the foundation’s board, commented, “I was caught off guard by the fact that we were receiving such a bequest.”

Neighbors apparently were caught off guard by Dewey’s wealth, too. Robert and Marilyn Johnson, who lived on the same street with Dewey, said her life style was comfortable but not lavish, noting that she drove a Japanese economy car. Dewey was “a very gracious woman,” Marilyn Johnson said, adding, “She was very quiet and she was not home a great deal” because of her work.

Just as she kept quiet about her money, Dewey never pushed herself into the limelight professionally and was reticent about her private life, friends and acquaintances recalled.

“She was a very private person,” said Christine Sifley, who succeeded Dewey as executive director of the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, which has assets of more than $130 million and has provided millions to academic endeavors in science and engineering.

Before joining the foundation full time in 1977, Dewey had worked since 1952 as administrative manager at the Ralph M. Parsons Co., the giant engineering and construction firm based in Pasadena and now named Parsons Corp. Its projects have ranged from chemical and petroleum plants worldwide to a mosque in Saudi Arabia.

Born in Cameron, Mo., in 1914, Dewey was a person of “simple beginnings” who “because of her innate sense of class and style matured into an extraordinary woman,” said Joseph Hurley, Parsons Foundation president. She was “a pleasant woman, a charming woman, but a no-nonsense woman,” he added. “She was anything but a pussycat or a pushover. . . . The woman wasn’t faultless, but she was as close as you need to come. . . . She was just very good at anything she did.”

Doris Jones, a former assistant vice president of the Irvine Foundation, agreed with Hurley. “She was a very unassuming lady,” Jones said. “She was a very fragile-appearing woman and underneath was this inner core of strength that came through loud and clear.”

Source of Wealth

Hurley, for one, was not mystified by the source of Dewey’s wealth. When the founder of the Parsons Co. died, Dewey received a bequest of stock, he said, adding that the size of her estate was due to the “meteoric rise” in the value of that stock, which has been split several times over the years. Two years ago all outstanding stock was purchased by the firm’s employee stock ownership plan for about $32 per share.

By all accounts, Dewey’s interests were wide-ranging, and her perspective broadened over the last decade or so as she became more and more involved in charitable work. As the unsalaried director of the Parsons Foundation, Dewey was instrumental in funding programs ranging from computer development to juvenile justice.

Helen Ramey of the Remedial Reading and Learning Center in South-Central Los Angeles said the center owed its air conditioning as well as much program funding to Dewey’s efforts. But, she added, Dewey’s interests didn’t stop when the check was handed over.

“If we gave a Christmas party, she came. If we gave a picnic for the children, she came,” Ramey said. “ . . . She was just as beautiful inside as she was outside. She had a smile on her face all the time.” Ramey added that Dewey often was accompanied by her daughter and grandchildren on these visits. (Dewey is survived by a son, Robert Stokes, a daughter, Carol Estrada, three grandchildren and a sister, Betty Hankins.)

Dr. Marvin L. Goldberger, president of Caltech, said Dewey had helped provide grants to the school for new administrative facilities, development of a type of computer called concurrent processors and chemical research.

Ideas With Promise

Dewey was interested in ideas that showed great promise, he said. “I had lunch with Barbara once and she told me, ‘If you ever come across something that you think is a real home-run ball, let me know.’ ”

Although few who met her apparently had glimpses of her private life, Goldberger said Dewey once told him that her pets were a great concern of hers. “She once commented that she didn’t like to leave her dogs in the care of others,” he said.

At a memorial service, Goldberger said he saw a picture of Dewey in her youth and was impressed by how “spectacularly beautiful” she was, a quality still visible in her later years.

The Parsons Foundation’s Hurley summed up in a statement that echoed the sentiments of others: “We miss her very much. She was our friend and a great lady.”