THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 14, 1994 TAG: 9411140057
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 286 lines
In death, Celia Stern has achieved something she never could in her 93 years of life. She has become a one-woman United Way.
When Stern died shortly before Christmas 1992 in her Virginia Beach Oceanfront condo, she left behind $5 million in cash and property. She also left a great mystery - two wills and two executors, both of whom claimed to be legitimate.
It took a year to untangle the mess. A judge eventually ruled one of the wills bogus when two ``witnesses'' to the document admitted it was fake.
That ended the legal mystery, but it created a whole new and equally intriguing question: Where would all the money go?
Under Stern's will, Norfolk attorneyPeter G. Decker Jr. has unlimited authority to spend the money. All of it must go to charity; otherwise Stern left no specific directions.
A year later, the cash has been spread thickly and quickly to dozens of charities throughout Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
Every area college got a piece. So did prep schools and religious schools. So did three environmental groups. So did five churches, two synagogues, the Catholic diocese and a prison ministry.
So, too, did a library, a zoo, three museums, several medical research groups, and 12 agencies that feed, clothe, counsel or protect the needy.
Decker has distributed nearly $3 million to more than 130 local charities. It has been, Decker says, one of the most satisfying things he has done in 35 years as a lawyer.
``Mrs. Stern gave me the opportunity to do more good than I have ever done,'' Decker says.
Exactly one year has passed since Decker won control of the estate in a nasty court battle. While state police say a criminal investigation of the bogus will is still pending, the fun part of Stern's estate - disbursing the money - is nearly finished.
Decker says he has committed nearly every penny of Stern's $5.5 million to one charity or another, but has actually written checks for only $2.9 million.
That makes Celia Stern's will one of the biggest charities in town.
It is, for example, bigger than the $2-million-a-year Norfolk Foundation. And it is about half the $10 million raised and distributed last year by the United Way of South Hampton Roads.
As a result, Stern's name - or at least the name of her estate - has been coming up everywhere lately.
Contrary to what some observers expected, Decker did not give most of the money to his pet charity, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. So far, St. Jude has received $63,500, although Decker says it will get much more when he sells Stern's real estate holdings, worth about $700,000.
The rest of Stern's money has gone just about everywhere. Donations range from $500 for the East Ocean View Bike Patrol in Norfolk to $250,000 for an endowment at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater in Virginia Beach - the only Jewish day school in Hampton Roads.
Some groups got surprise calls from Decker after the dispute over the will was over. Others actively solicited the money from Decker when they read about the legal fight.
Decker was besieged by requests.
``People were waiting in line downstairs,'' Decker recalls, sitting in his third-floor office in downtown Norfolk. ``You would have thought I was the busiest lawyer in the world. . . . Charities I never knew existed were popping up out of the woodwork. Suddenly everyone was Pete Decker's best friend.''
Decker smiles. ``I've tried to keep everybody happy,'' he says.
Well, maybe not everybody. Decker denied money to at least one charity that Stern hated while she was alive. She disliked professional fund-raisers who badgered her by phone.
But almost everyone else got donations.
In life, Stern was a private, frail woman, who lived alone with few visitors. In death, she has made thousands of friends.
``The estate of Celia Stern is doing an awful lot of good,'' said Ken Freeman, general manager of the Virginia Opera. ``Not just for the opera but for a lot of groups around town.''
It is an eclectic list, to say the least.
Stern was Jewish, so several Jewish groups got donations. Jewish Family Services received $25,000. Hadassah got $5,000. When the air conditioner broke this spring at Temple Beth El, Stern's estate bought a new one. ``It has been a blessing for us,'' said synagogue president Linda Belkov.
Many other religions benefited, too.
The Greek Orthodox Church got $10,000 for its expansion. Holy Trinity Church got another $10,000 to help the needy. St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Rock Church and the Catholic diocese also got donations.
By far the biggest recipients, as a group, were medical institutions. Six of the top 11 donations fell into that category. For example:
Physicians for Peace, a Norfolk-based medical mission, got $75,000. This will help send a team of doctors, nurses and technicians to Yemen next spring or summer.
``The Stern money will be a lifesaver, literally,'' said Louisa Nye, a trustee and volunteer nurse. ``It's going to do so much good in that tiny country.''
DePaul Medical Center got $100,000. Half will be used for indigent care; half will help upgrade the critical care pavilion.
Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters got $210,000, which will help upgrade the cancer treatment center. Decker's donation was among the 15 largest in the hospital's ongoing expansion campaign But hospital officials say they still need $175,000 to reach a June goal that will make them eligible for a matching $400,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation.
The arts got big bucks, too:
The Virginia Symphony balanced its books for the first time in six years, thanks in part to a $50,000 Stern donation.
The Virginia Opera expanded its educational programs with Stern's $102,500.
Norfolk Festevents used $76,000 from Stern to expand children's activities at all festivals and to add a space camp in July.
At the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, Stern's $50,000 will go toward a new educational building.
And at WHRO, a $25,000 gift from Stern funded ``The Class of 2000,'' a TV and radio show that examines educational issues.
While the full list of recipients won't be filed until all the money is disbursed, Decker said charities can stop calling.
``We've committed the whole estate away. . . every dime I have,'' Decker said. ``Of all the things I've done in my life, this has to be the most satisfying.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Celia Stern
B&W photo
Norfolk attorney Peter G. Decker
Staff color file photo by Lawrence Jackson
Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters
$210,000. Dr. Rebecca Byrd of the cancer treatment center sits with
Ciara Bennett, left, and Cole Culley, 2-year-olds from Virginia
Beach. The money will help upgrade the center.
Color Staff file photo by Bill Tiernan
Norfolk Festevents
$76,000. Jason Smithwick, 13, of Chespeake tries out weightlessness
at a space camp at Waterside in July. A donation from Stern's estate
was used to fund the event.
Color photo by louisa S. Nye.
Physicians for Peace
$75,000. Norfolk cardiologists John Onufer, center, confers with
colleagues during an operation last month in Cairo, Egypt. The Stern
donation will help send a team to Yemen in 1995.
Graphic
[List]
Here's a look at who got money
Charitable gifts thru Nov. 7, 1994
Access25,000
Alzheimer's Association10,000
Amateur Athletic Union1,000
American Cancer Society35,000
American Heart Association55,000
American Lung Association of Va.10,000
Angel Kiss Foundation5,000
Armed Services YMCA3,500
Back Bay Wildfowl Guild10,000
Beth Chaverim Congregation5,000
Beth El Congregation30,000
Beth Sholom Home10,000
Boo Williams Summer League1,000
Boy Scouts10,000
Boys & Girls Club30,000
CADRA5,000
CANDII15,000
Cape Henry Collegiate School30,000
Careers Through Culinary Arts3,000
Catholic Diocese of Richmond5,000
Center for Disfigurement10,000
Chef & Child Foundation10,000
Chesapeake Bay Foundation12,500
Children's Hospital of the K.D.210,000
Children's Kiwanis Emergency Center5,000
Children's Performance Workshops10,000
Chrysler Museum65,000
Cyprus Childrens Fund5,000
DePaul Medical Center100,000
Diabetes Institute Foundation25,000
Dockside Art Review of Tidewater10,500
Donna Doyle Scholarship Fund5,000
Downtown Norfolk Council10,000
Dwelling Place10,000
East Ocean View Bike Patrol500
Easter Seal Society of Virginia30,000
Eggleston Center5,000
Endependence Center5,000
Family Services of Tidewater12,500
Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia17,000
Friends of Norfolk Juvenile Court32,500
Friends of the Elderly2,500
Girl Scouts10,000
Good News Jail/Prison Ministry5,000
Governors Magnet School for Arts5,000
Greek Orthodox Church10,000
Hadassah5,000
Hampton Roads Black Media Profs.2,500
Hampton Roads Cultural Endowment25,000
Hampton Roads Education TV Assoc.25,000
Hampton Roads Soccer Council5,000
Haven Family Assistance10,000
Hebrew Academy of Tidewater250,000
Help & Emergency Response1,000
Holy Trinity Church10,000
Humane Society of Amhurst County5,000
Hunton YMCA2,500
Hurrah Players5,000
International College25,000
Intl. Inst. of Reconstructive Surgery25,000
Japan Education Culture Center5,000
Jewish Community Center10,000
Jewish Family Services25,000
Joy Fund20,000
Khedive Temple2,000
Knights of Columbus22,000
Law and Disorderly Inc.2,500
Lee's Friends20,000
Leukemia Society10,000
MacArthur Foundation10,000
Make-a-Wish10,000
Medical College of Hampton Roads50,000
Middlesex County Public Library1,500
Mother Seton House2,500
National Judicial College5,000
Natl. Assn. of Black Journalists5,000
Nature Conservancy2,500
Nauticus40,000
Naval Base Little League25,000
Navy League, Hampton Roads Council9,000
Norfolk Academy19,278
Norfolk Board of Education2,500
Norfolk Botanical Gardens50,000
Norfolk Catholic25,000
Norfolk Collegiate School30,000
Norfolk Crime Line5,000
Norfolk Festevents76,000
Norfolk Parks & Recreation2,500
Norfolk SPCA5,500
Norfolk State College Foundation25,000
Norfolk State University25,000
Old Dominion University221,000
Onesimus Ministries of Norfolk5,000
Operation Smile35,000
Optimist Club of Norfolk2,500
Order of Alhambra10,000
Physicians for Peace75,000
Portsmouth Museums Foundation10,000
Red Cross10,000
Rock Church3,000
Rosemont Middle School5,000
Salvation Army5,000
Sheriff F. Drew Community Fund7,500
Ships at Sea10,000
Society/Aid/Sickle Cell Anemia10,000
Special Love Inc.15,000
Special Olympics10,000
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital63,500
St. Mark's Episcopal Church5,000
St. Mary's Infant Home25,000
Tidewater Community College10,000
Tidewater Fdtn. for Performing Arts10,000
Tidewater Jewish Foundation10,000
Tidewater Korean Association1,000
Tidewater Winds15,000
UNICEF25,000
Union Mission5,000
United Way35,000
Urban League25,000
Vesthouse Inc.5,000
Virginia Beach Polo Club5,000
Virginia Beach Foundation51,500
Virginia Beach Chorale25,000
Virginia Beach Rescue Squad25,000
Virginia Home10,000
Virginia Marine Science Museum25,000
Virginia Opera Association102,500
Virginia Stage Company25,000
Virginia Symphony50,000
Virginia Wesleyan College25,000
Virginia Zoological Society10,000
Ward's Corner Little League1,000
Young Audiences5,000
TOTAL
133 organizations... $2.88 million
KEYWORDS: CHARITIES DONATION
by CNB