Robert W. & Sarah M. Minear Fund
TYPE OF FUND: Unrestricted DATE ESTABLISHED: 1990
PURPOSE: General charitable needs
DISTRIBUTION: Recommendation by the Grants Committee and approval by the full 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: From Mr. and Mrs. Minear.
BACKGROUND: Sarah Mullennex Minear is the second child and only daughter of John J. and Ruth Swartz Mullennex of Parsons. Sarah graduated from Parsons High School and attended Fairmont State College and WVU. Her brother John J. Mullennex, Jr. lives in Fairmont, WV. Mrs. Minear is the founding president of TCF and served in that capacity from Dec. 1988 until December 1994. She is also the founding president of WV Grantmakers Assoc., Inc. having served as such from May 1992 through December 1995. On Nov. 8, 1994, Mrs. Minear was elected as a state senator from the 14th Senatorial District which serves seven counties. She is the first woman elected to serve in the WV Senate from this district. She served 12 years, choosing not to run for re-election in 2006. She is a member of Parsons Presbyterian Church having been elected both deacon and elder and has served on a number of Presbytery committees. She has been an active member and officer of River City Garden Club; member of Tucker County Arts Council; member of the board of Tucker County Chamber of Commerce; member of the WV Chamber of Commerce; member and President of the Ohio/WV YMCA board of directors; member of the board of Mon Valley Tri-State Network; charter member of the TC Development Authority and Allegheny Front Regional Development Authority; member, Tucker County Republican Executive Committee and WV State Republican Committee; member, Tucker County Farm Bureau; and member, WV Forestry Association. Robert W. and Sarah M. Minear were married in May 1975.
Robert William Minear, Sr. is a descendant of Jonathan Minear, one of the founding fathers of Tucker County. Born in Hendricks, WV, he was the youngest of the four children of Creed W. and E. Ruth Stiff Minear. In 1921 the family moved to Parsons where the children attended school. The four children included C. Wilbur Minear, JR. of Falls Church, VA, the late Kenneth Minear, and the late Mrs. John M. (Katherine Louise) Ours. Bob Minear is a graduate of Parsons High School, attended Davis & Elkins College in Elkins one year and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry from the University of Georgia. He was employed by the US Forest Service and WV Conservation Commission (now the DNR) from 1936 to 1943. He joined the US Navy in l942 and served in all three theaters of war during WW II, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. From l946-1950 Mr. Minear owned and operated a hardware and farm machinery dealership in Parsons and from 1951-1955 he owned and operated Minear Motors, a Chrysler, Plymouth and International Harvester dealership. Following a brief period in securities sales, Minear became affiliated with Duncan Telephone Company and with 2 partners, organized United Utilities of WV which purchased and operated telephone properties in Preston, Wayne, Marion, Harrison and Clay counties and in Kentucky. In 1962, both Duncan and United Utilities merged with Continental Telephone Company, a holding company with operations in the United States and Canada. Mr. Minear served as general manager for Continental Properties in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont and acquired telephone companies for Continental in the United States and Canada. In 1972 he retired from Continental and returned to Parsons to assume the duties as president of First National Bank (Mountain Valley Bank, N.A.). In this capacity he supervised the growth of resources of the bank from $2.5 million to more than $20 million. He retired as president in 1993. Mr. Minear was a charter member and past president of the Parsons Community Association which was organized to acquire Dorman Woolen Mills; and later Parsons Footwear. He was president of the Tucker County Building Commission which secured grants for financing and building Cortland Acres Nursing Home, Thomas, WV. Mr. Minear was elected both deacon and elder, and served as a trustee of Parsons Presbyterian Church. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and Shrine; past president of Hendricks Ruritan Club, past director of Tucker county Senior Citizens, Inc.; past president and secretary of WV Telephone Association; and a life member of General Garnett Post 4322, Veterans of Foreign Wars. Robert and the late Grace Thurston Minear were the parents of two children R. W. Minear, Jr. (1940-1991) and Rebecca A. Minear of Cumberland, MD. Mr. Minear has a granddaughter, Jennifer D. Minear. Mr. Minear