Lasting Impact
Joel Bristol Associates have provided for Hamilton students of today and tomorrow through scholarships and other gifts to perpetuate the College’s educational mission.
Estelle Katchmar Wilhelm W’40
Raised by a mother who believed deeply in the importance of education, Wilhelm graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in library science, became a librarian, and married Curtis R. Wilhelm ’40 in the Hamilton Chapel before he entered the military. They lived simply and invested well, accumulating a significant estate from which Estelle gave generously during her lifetime toward the renovation of the Kirner-Johnson Building and through her estate to the Kennedy Center and Johnson Health and Wellness Center.
David Maldwyn “Spoolie” Ellis ’38
The son of Welsh immigrants who operated a grocery store in Utica, Ellis attended Hamilton with the help of scholarships and returned to the Hill to teach history from 1946 to 1980. A dedicated alumni volunteer and loyal supporter of the Hamilton Fund, he also established many Hamilton charitable gift annuities. A generous estate gift from Ellis’ widow, Carolyn, created the Carolyn C. and David M. Ellis ’38 Distinguished Teaching Professorship, currently held by Professor of Music Heather Buchman.
Bevin Kenny Gilliss ’07 and Edward J. Gilliss, Jr. ’08,
Steve T. Kenny ’69 and Marsha P. Kenny P’07
Two generations of Kennys — all active College volunteers and donors — endowed a scholarship to benefit Hamilton students in perpetuity. Offered in gratitude for their own experiences on the Hill, the Kenny-Gilliss Scholarship is a collective family effort, established through both lifetime and estate gifts.
The Joel Bristol Associates is named for one of the original supporters of the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, Joel Bristol, whose family has long been associated with the College.