The Mary Kimbrough Webb Fund

Jean Webb is extremely proud of her mother, Mary.

Mary Kimbrough Webb was born at home on the farm in Hancock County, Illinois, and became a college-educated woman in a time when women did not typically attend college. She trained to be a home economics teacher, but, after a few years of teaching, she married, raised children, ran a tool rental business and ultimately served as a guidance counselor.

To know Mary was to know a determined woman – always a believer in the strength of women, extremely active in her church, the AAUW, and the YWCA. She was also a generous woman, who was committed to the rights of women, racial equality, and the well-being and welfare of people who are poor. Together with her second husband, Mary created a scholarship to help students meet their tuition obligations at her alma mater, where she met Jean’s dad.

Mary lived to be the great age of 99, and her life and legacy will now live on in the fund that bears her name at The Foundation. "I believe she would be proud," says Jean of her mother. "She would be happy to know that she taught me well, taught me how to care for my community. The fund that I established is a direct reflection of her values, and of the freedom she granted me to fashion my own."