Hines Family Scholarship Fund

History:

A Chehalis start

Born in Chehalis on July 22, 1939, David carried the downtown Daily Chronicle paper route as a high school student. His savings paid for his freshman year at Centralia College and carried him on to Washington State University and the University of Washington. He graduated in 1957 from Chehalis High School, now W.F. West High School. He was also an active Boy Scout and a gifted young musician, playing the church pipe organ on alternating Sundays the summer after his senior year.

A life of learning

David earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1961 and a Master of Librarianship in 1962, both from the University of Washington, where he was inducted into three honor societies. As a librarian at IBM, he became an early expert in computerized research, presenting at national conferences in New York, Toronto, and California. One of his published papers was translated and republished in Hungary. He later built IBM’s Competitive Resource Center, then began a second career at Electronic Data Systems.

A life of music and service

A classically trained baritone, David sang with the Rochester Symphony Chorale in Minnesota, performing in Italian operas and Fiddler on the Roof, and later with the Irving Chorale in Texas. He later took up the harp and volunteered more than 4,300 hours playing for patients at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center in Irving, Texas, earning a Five Star Spirit pin. He chose uplifting music to comfort patients and families, and played monthly at the Irving Elks Lodge for dinners honoring local high school Students of the Month. He was a 60-year Honorary Life Member of the Elks.

Endowment Purpose:

David Hines never forgot where his college education began: in Chehalis, with a freshman year at Centralia College. Through a gift of $1.7 million, he opened that same path for generations of students to come.

His gift created the Hines Family Scholarship Fund, a permanent endowment held by the Chehalis Foundation. The gift itself is never spent. Only a portion of its’ earnings go to scholarships, so every year W.F. West High School graduates can start at Centralia College, just as he did. In perpetuity, his gift will go on changing lives, opening doors for students he never met in the hometown he never forgot.