It may seem strange that the Austin Library Board chose statues of two children to remember a bachelor farmer, but it gets easier to understand after listening to Chris McArdle Rojo talk about the $750,000 endowment left the library by Walter Wienke three years ago.

Monday, September 11, 2000

It may seem strange that the Austin Library Board chose statues of two children to remember a bachelor farmer, but it gets easier to understand after listening to Chris McArdle Rojo talk about the $750,000 endowment left the library by Walter Wienke three years ago.

"The children personify the gift," the library director said. "It will have an effect on generations of children to come."

Wienke’s gift, which amounted to $880,000 by the time it was transferred to the library, was given as an endowment. The library may spend the interest each year – about $60,000 – for the next 25 years. After that, 5 percent of the capital can be used each year until the money is gone, should the Library Board choose to do so.

Little is known about Wienke, whose gift came as such a marvelous surprise three years ago. There isn’t even a photograph of the farmer.

Judith Bergen knew Walter in his last days. She wrote an essay about him, and read it at Sunday’s dedication ceremony.

"I wanted to find out more about Walter after he died, so I talked to his neighbors and I ended up writing this essay," Bergen, who also sits on the Library Board, said. "He was such a neat person – I wanted other people to know. I think they think he was just an old miser, but he indeed had a very rich life and he had what he needed."

Copies of Bergen’s complete essay are available at the library.