“Paying it Forward”

Will Johnson is a case study in the rewards of “paying it forward.”

Following the death of his father, a World War II veteran wounded in the Pacific, a family friend reached out to help Will. He gave him his first summer job and encouraged him to apply to Blair Academy, a private, Presbyterian-affiliated boarding school in New Jersey.

Will vividly recalls learning that he had received a scholarship that would make it possible for him to attend the college-preparatory academy. He asked a Blair alumnus, who had interviewed him as part of the application process, how he could say thank you for the investment the academy was about to make in him.

“He told me two things: ‘First, when you get up every day, resolve to do your very best,’” remembers Will. “‘And if you’re ever in a position to do the same thing for others, do it.’”

A scholarship also made the critical difference that allowed Will to attend Wooster. He graduated in 1966 with a B.A. in history. So when he retired as CEO of Chelsea Community Hospital in Michigan, Will began creating scholarships that would help others—students at Wooster, Blair, and the University of Michigan, where he did his graduate work, and children of the hospital’s employees. He is using an estate note to endow the Wooster scholarship in perpetuity.

“I figured I could either create scholarships or get a second house,” he says, “And I feel much better about supporting eight scholars than I would owning a second house.”

Will has identified an additional area at Wooster where he hopes to make a difference. He is working with the College’s development staff to endow an annual program to teach students life skills— from how to administer CPR or use a portable defibrillator, to tips on budgeting, credit, insurance, and saving for retirement.

“I think it’s important for people to have some of these basic skills,” Will says. And if he can help make that happen, “that’s a good use of the resources I’ve been given.”