The "A LEGACY LIVES ON IN LANCASTER COUNTY" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just opened my front door and had my morning newspaper drop into the house. There on the front page of my LNP newspaper was a photograph of Ann B. Barshinger with a lengthy story of her life.  The headline read: LEGACY LIVES ON with a sub-head that read "At Memorial Service, Community Remembers Philanthropist's Compassion, Generosity And Humor."  If my story today seem's a bit to long, I'm sorry, but Ann deserved every bit of the space on my computer.  Ann Barshinger, a philanthropist who grew up on a farm and gave away about $50 million to Lancaster County organizations before her death at 100, was remembered for her generosity humor, humility and compassion for others during her memorial service this past Friday.

Ann Barshinger

Fittingly, the service was held inside the Ann & Richard Barshinger for the Musical Arts building on the campus of Franklin & Marshall College.  It's the same building where Richard Barshinger was a student at the college more than 80 years ago.  The building, first constructed in 1925, was dubbed Hensel Hall then and was later rededicated in 2000 as the Ann & Richard  Barshinger Center for Musical Arts in Hensel Hall.  "We're sitting in one of more than a dozen physical facilities that bears the Barshinger name," said David Hanson, CEO of Fulton Private Bank, which focuses on services of individuals who have substantial wealth.  Hanson was among a half-dozen people who spoke onstage during the hourlong service reflecting on the life of Ann Barshinger, a philanthropist known for aiding numerous landmark projects and initiatives in Lancaster County.  Barshinger, who grew up on a farm in Glen Rock, York County, died July 21 at Willow Valley Communities in West Lampeter Township, where she had lived since 2001.  She was 100.  "She gave to over 50 organizations...art, health, education, feeding the homeless, and religion.  If she saw a need, she met it," Hanson said.   "I never worked with somebody who had such a wide range of charitable interests.  She has left an unbelievable impact."  Barshinger was buried alongside her husband at Red Lion Cemetery in nearby York County on July 26.  Ann Barshinger's most famous quote about her philanthropy was, "You don't see a U-Haul behind a hearse."  Barbara Altman, President of Franklin & Marshall College, who attended the burial and Friday's service, said, "I can attest to the fact that as we followed the Hearst to the cemetery, a U-Haul was not hitched to the hearse."  The line drew laughter from the crowd of about 100 people, including Lancaster City Mayors...both current and former, Danene Sorace and Rick Gray.  On September 30, 1930, at 7 years old, Ann waited with her family for hours to be one of the first cars to cross the Columbia-Wrightsville bridge," said Elaine Kowalski, who though power of attorney acted as Barshinger's agent.  "We are so grateful that Ann crossed that bridge in 2001 to become a permanent resident of Lancaster County."  Ann and Richard Barsinger had been married 54 years when Richard died in 2001.  "They had planned to move to Willow Valley before his death in 2001," said Rick Boyd, Ann Barshinger's nephew.  "As it turned out, Ann made that move alone and began her third act, which she found richly rewarding: For more than two decades Ann took great pleasure in redistributing her financial assets to organizations in Lancaster and York Counties."  Richard had inherited Red Lion Co., which was founded in 1920 by his grandfather, Simon Barshinger.  The company was later sold to ConAgra, and Ann and Richard used their wealth from the sale of that plant to fund their philanthropic endeavors.  "She told me about the time she shot a groundhog," said the Rev. Carol Lynch, president emerita of Lancaster Theological Seminary.  "Dick was looking out a window.  He saw a groundhog interfering with the pool cover.  He asked for her to get him a gun.  He aimed it and she pulled the trigger.  She got the groundhog.  It's kind of an oddball story but it describes the partnership she had with Dick in her philanthropy.  He loaded and aimed this tremendous philanthropy made possible because of his business.  Ann pulled the trigger on transformative gifts to worthy organizations in this region."  Fulton Private Bank helped Ann Barsinger manage her money.  It's there she worked with Kowalski, who upon retirement became Barshinger's power of attorney.  "My favorite story about Ann is when she was a child," Kowalski recalled.  "The community was building a church and her family didn't have that much to give.  But Ann and her brother collected stones from her farm to be used for the foundation of the church". That church still stands today as New Hope Fossil's United Church in Glen Rock.  "Little did she know at the time that she would someday give away over $50 million," Kowalski said.  Dr. Randall was among the six speakers Friday.  Oyer is the medical director of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health's Cancer Risk Evaluation Program and clinical professor of medicine and is founding medical director of the Ann B. Barshinger Cancer Institute.  The two-story 70,000-square foot institute, made possible in part due to a substantial donation from Barsinger, opened in 2013 in East Hempfield Township.  

The 46 million Barshinger Cancer Institute in Lancaster, PA

"Ann gave her time and effort, influence and advocacy, and her advice and emotional support," Oyer said.  "She was more than a donor.  Ann was involved, invested and a perpetual partner to the organizatons she funded because she believed in our mission and trusted in our outcome.  She took pride in the work we did and gave us all the credit."  The Barshinger's donation supported numerous projects at F&M, including the Ann & Richard Barshinger Life Sciences Building and the Winter Visual Arts Center, among others. A $10 million state grant for the life sciences building was matched by a $10 million donation from Ann Barshiinger in 2005.

Richard Boyd, nephew of Ann, speaks during memorial service for
Ann inside Ann & Richard Barshinger Center for Musical Arts
at F&M College on August 16, 2024.

Additionally, Barshinger endows the $4 million Ann Boyd Barshinger Scholarship Fund, which supports tuition at F&M for deserving students from Lancaster and York Counties.  Altman noted those contributions during the service and shared thoughts from previous F&M presidents and a few former students who were benefactors of the scholarship fund.  "The word 'philanthropy' comes from the Greek language meaning love of humanity." Altman said.  "Now we generally understand it as a desire to promote the welfare of others.  By any and all definitions, Mrs. B. was the incarnation of philanthropy."  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Ann with one of her best friends.