George & Mariwyn Smith Fund
TYPE OF FUND: Donor Advised
DATE ESTABLISHED: Initiated November 4, 2004 Established December 8, 2004
PURPOSE: Charitable purposes per recommendation of the donors.
DISTRIBUTION: On the recommendation of the donors and final approval by the Grants Committee and Board of Directors of TCF.
VARIANCE POWER: If, in the judgment of the TCF Board of Directors, the restrictions and conditions of the fund become unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community, the TCF Board of Directors maintains the right to modify the terms of this fund.
FUNDING: A donation of $10,000 was made by George and Mariwyn Smith on November 4, 2004. (At that time, $10,000 was the minimum fund requirement. Shortly thereafter, the board of directors increased the minimum fund requirement to $20,000, and grandfathered this fund in since it did meet the minimum standard at the time it was initiated.)
BACKGROUND: George Adrain Smith, Jr. is the only son of Victoria Crawford Smith and the late George A. Smith and a native of Catskill, NY. He graduated Catskill High School in 1955 and attended Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, WV where he met his future wife. Mariwyn Faith McClain is the second of three children of the late R. Kenneth and C. Faith Reynolds McClain of Parsons. Following their marriage on June 4, 1960, George owned and operated The Preston County News in Terra Alta, WV for ten years. They moved to Parsons in 1971 when Mr. McClain became ill; George to run McClain Printing Company and Mariwyn as editor of The Parsons Advocate. George retired in 2000 and Mariwyn in 2003. The Advocate was sold in August 2004. It had been in Mariwyn’s family since 1943.
George and Mariwyn are the parents of 3 children, Kenneth E. Smith, the third generation to head the printing company of which he is now president. He is the proud parent of 2 daughters (Sarah Ann and Elizabeth Michelle) and 1 grandson. Daughter Barbara L. (and husband Carl) Plumley have 4 children, her sons; Elijah and Quinn Broaddus and Carl’s children, Angela and Joseph Plumley. Youngest daughter Faith, and her husband, Sgt. Kenneth E. Robinson have one daughter, Katelynn Faith.
George and Mariwyn are officers and active members of Parsons Presbyterian Church. They have served in several civic organizations. He is past president of Parsons Kiwanis Club, member of the Board of Directors of Mt. Valley Bank, NA, past president of the Board of Directors of St. George Medical Clinic Board, Parsons Revitalization Organization, Tucker County Development Authority, Allegheny Highlands Trails Association, Chairman of the Board for Parsons Railroad Depot and the Heritage House Arts & Crafts Co-op. She is a charter member of the board of directors of the Tucker Community Endowment Foundation, was the first woman awarded Tucker County Chamber of Commerce’s highest honor, Tuckineer, was a charter member of Tucker Community Chorus, was honored by WV Commission on Women as Business Person of the Year, helped form the local chapter of American Association of University Women, helped organize the Parsons Women’s Investment Club, is author or co-author of two cookbooks, a personalized local history…and live forever, a children’s coloring book/history of Tucker County, and a booklet, the Every-month Calendar from Mom.Both George and Mariwyn have served as president of West Virginia Press Association. Her father also served in the position in the late 1950’s.
George and Mariwyn established this fund because as they stated, “A donor advised fund is an excellent method to fund more than one project and allows flexibility for years to come. We like the idea of being able to recommend the recipients to the TCEF Board as long as we’re alive. After our deaths, it will be possible for the board to decide where they think it is best needed.”