Why a quiet, unassuming Topeka couple left nearly $9 million to Hayden Foundation

Oh, how Geraldine Michaelis wished she could have gone to college.

It was the kind of dream that meant that much more to a dirt-poor, North Topeka girl who walked the span of the Kansas River bridge every day just to attend Capital Catholic High School (now known as Hayden Catholic High School) in the 1930s. She knew how important that education was, even if her childhood prospects would always be clouded by the hard times and tribulations of the Great Depression.

That dream — of a better future through education — was never her life to live.

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Instead, she found that better future by way of marriage with Walter Michaelis, a Paxico native who served as a U.S. Army and Air Force staff sergeant. He later earned his degree, through the G.I. Bill, in business administration at the University of Kansas.

The Michaelises, for 65 long and blessed years, shared a happy, if humble, marriage. Though they never had children of their own, the best friends made for themselves quiet lives as members of the Topeka community — Walter as a car dealer and businessman for various Topeka companies, and Geraldine as a railway clerk for the Santa Fe Railway Company.

Neither, though, could forget Geraldine’s dream.

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It's been about 15 years that Terry Young has had to keep one of Hayden Catholic High School's best secrets.

That was when Rick Strecker, the former president of Hayden Catholic High School, asked if Young, a certified public accountant and member of the school's foundation board, would accompany him to meet the quiet, unassuming couple who wanted help realizing Geraldine's dream, but in a new way.

For years, the Michaelises had worked but never spent much on themselves, save for the occasional trip out of town, said Carol Gardner, a niece of the couple.

"My aunt Gerri was just the sweetest lady there was, and with my uncle Walt, they were just hardworking people," Gardner said. "They just started saving money, and it built up over time. They were very, very frugal people, and they just didn't spend very much money beyond necessities, and that was about it."

When Walter's brother Carl Michaelis, a chemistry professor at the University of Dayton, died in 2000, he had left behind a $1.7 million gift to create an endowment for scholarships.

The couple knew they wanted to do something similar with their life savings, but they would need help.

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"This had just become, over the years, a passion for them," Young said. "They’d talked about it, and they knew they wanted to create a scholarship. I still remember that conversation when we first met with them. Walt commented that their hope was that by being careful and saving, they could have $1 million to put in the fund."

That was around 2009, when the Michaelises were in their late 80s. The modest, no-fuss couple didn't want publicity for their donation, so they pledged their wealth to the Hayden Foundation in secret, trusting in Young and the board to carry out their wishes after death.

Even as they were planning for their deaths, though, the couple never really did slow down. Walter kept handling their investments and savings for the fund over the years until about 2016, when he asked Young to step in and help handle the couple's finances. He would die less than a year into the pandemic at the age of 100 on Dec. 29, 2020, while Geraldine, 98, would die just two weeks later.

But by Walter's careful management and Young's stewardship, what had been a dream of raising $1 million for Catholic student scholarships ultimately turned out to be an $8.9 million gift to the foundation.

"They were that cute kind of couple who finished each other’s sentences," Young said. "They could always sense what each other were thinking. … Like most couples of that era, they lived through the hardest times, and that gave them a different dynamic. They had this desire to share what, in their terms, were the gifts God had given them."

'Maybe someday, we can all do something that lives up to the legacy (the Michaelises) created'

Although they needed help setting up the financial logistics of the gift, Walter and Geraldine Michaelis had a clear vision for the scholarship they wanted to create, and how it would be administered.

Firstly, the goal would be to make postsecondary education more accessible for Catholic, Topeka-area teens. While the gift would be to and in the care of the Hayden Catholic High School Foundation, the scholarships would be available to any teen who could produce a letter of good character from their parish priest.

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"They did not want to make this an onerous application process," Young said. "Their goal was to help kids who would be good, Catholic citizens and contributors to society."

And while the scholarships will pay for any postsecondary education, including technical school, the Michaelises had a dream and set a scholarship focus for degrees and careers in high-demand occupations, particularly teaching.

Applications for that scholarship opened earlier in February, with a deadline of April 10 for completed applications and materials. A selection committee, made up of volunteers, will manage and choose recipients of the scholarship program, "so that the whole benefit of the program truly goes to kids."

Every recipient will be told the story of the Michaelises, as a reminder of the "sacrifice that such an amazing couple made."

"It's a big responsibility, but one I know that Hayden and the foundation are very grateful for the trust that the Michaelises put in us, to ensure that students from Topeka continue receiving this amazing opportunity for higher education," said Shelly Buhler, president of Hayden Catholic High School and the school's foundation.

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Young, who promised the Michaelises she would remain on the Hayden Foundation to see through their dream, said it's been an honor to serve the couple in that way.

"Yes, the scholarship is wonderful and it's going help so many in need, but (the best part) was getting to know them, and knowing I got to help them accomplish their goal," she said. "I just hope I learn from what they've done, and maybe someday, we can all do something that lives up to the legacy they've created."

Applications for the Michaelis Scholarship are open to Topeka-area Catholic teenagers. To request an application, fill out the online form or contact Hayden Foundation President Shelly Buhler at buhlers@haydencatholic.net. Completed applications and supporting documents are due April 10, with finalists notified by May 15.

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at ‪785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka Hayden Foundation receives $8.9M gift from Michaelis couple