A Life Remembered: Journalist-philanthropist Imm had strong Mankato ties

May 15—MANKATO — Val Imm's first newspaper job was in her hometown, working for her father.

The Mankato native later moved to Dallas and worked for many years as a society columnist. On a terrible day in 1963, she took on the journalistic role of linking the public to information about John F. Kennedy's death.

"Aunt Val told AP, AP told Walter Cronkite and Walter Cronkite told the world," said nephew Andrew Imm from his home in Texas.

Val Imm died Monday in Dallas. She was 93.

On Nov. 22, 1963, The Times-Herald in Dallas sent Imm to cover the president and first lady's arrival at Love Field. She was in the vicinity of Dealey Plaza when Lee Harvey Oswald opened fire on the presidential motorcade. Her assignment changed.

JFK, critically wounded, was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital, where Imm found herself at the head of a scramble of reporters waiting for updates on his condition.

She spotted a priest leaving the emergency room and asked what was happening behind its closed doors. He told her the president had just died.

Imm ran to a phone station in the hospital and called an Associated Press bureau chief's office in her newspaper's building. Minutes later, CBS anchor Cronkite relayed the sad news to a shocked nation.

During a 2007 visit to Mankato, Imm described her recollections about the day of the assassination and shared several of her life experiences with her audience at Bethany Lutheran College.

She had graduated from high school at Bethany, back in the days when the college included a Lutheran-based high school. She later attended Mankato Teachers College.

After college she toured Europe, hitting 13 countries before heading home. She found work in New York working for a fashion magazine. She also did some teaching in the Adirondacks.

A visit to a sister in Fort Worth resulted in Imm becoming a longtime resident of Texas. She returned often to Mankato.

Imm's 2007 trip home had a purpose. The success of her career and marriage had put her in a position to be philanthropic. She donated a large sum of money to Bethany Lutheran College, money to be used for scholarships to communications, English and religion students.

"When you're there financially, it's the greatest joy in the world to give it away," she'd said.

During that 2007 visit, Imm met with Bethany Lutheran College students, including some candidates for scholarship money from her endowment.

"There's nothing more energizing," she said, "than to connect with young people who have the fire in the belly for achievement."

Imm declined to disclose how much money she'd given the college.

Imm married Fouad A. Bashour, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center. Together they founded the university's Fouad A. and Val Imm Bashour Distinguished Chair in Physiology. The program was designed to help encourage and foster research by younger faculty members.

Andrew Imm said his aunt's attitude of public service likely stemmed from the teachings of her parents.

Imm was given the name "Valerie" at birth; however, she chose to go by the same name as her father. The elder Val Imm had been the editor of Mankato News from 1926 to 1957 and served as a representative and senator in the state Legislature between 1932 to 1965.

The main road leading to the MSU campus is named after the longtime editor and legislator.

His aunt Val was "always intellectually curious, always learning. Those are good qualities for a journalist," Andrew Imm said.

"And she was one of those people who never met a stranger."

Imm's newspaper career earned her several awards and lasting friendships with people she met while covering high society events. Her photo collection includes an image of her next to President Lyndon Johnson and another showing Imm and her husband with Jeb and George W. Bush.

"They all became my friends," she said in 2007. "And I have some wonderful friends."

Imm was named Bethany's 2016 Distinguished Alumni award recipient.

Her longtime friends from Mankato include Art Westphal, senior development officer in the college's advancement department. The two spoke often and, prior to the pandemic, had met annually in Texas.

They'd always have a nice dinner and wonderful conversations, Westphal said.

"No question about it, she was a most interesting lady. And she was a most generous benefactor for the college."

Westphal recalled his friend's reaction to a scholarship recipient's thank you letter.

"Val sent the student a personal gift to help with her college expenses."

Imm and Westphal had several phone conversations earlier this year, while they worked to restructure her scholarship donations to Bethany.

Monies provided by Imm have been combined into one large scholarship, the Nehemiah Fund.

"Unfortunately, she won't be here when it first goes into effect this fall," Westphal said.

Services for Imm were Friday morning at Sparkman Hillcrest Funeral Home in Dallas.