Gaffney Resident's Estate Gift to Support Winthrop Permanent Endowment

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An estate gift from late philanthropist Mary Frances Fitzgerald Cagle will support Winthrop’s permanent endowment.

The permanent endowment provides continuing support for university priorities such as student scholarships and the overall operation of the Winthrop University Foundation.

ROCK HILL, S.C. -- A substantial estate gift from late philanthropist Mary Frances Fitzgerald Cagle will support Winthrop’s permanent endowment.

Cagle, a native of Gaffney, S.C., who attended Winthrop in the late 1940s, chose to include the university in her estate plans. Her recent gift sustains the Winthrop University Permanent Endowment. The permanent endowment provides continuing support for university priorities such as student scholarships and the overall operation of the Winthrop University Foundation.

Cagle married Victor W. Cagle, a fellow Gaffney native who served in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a colonel. During Col. Cagle’s career, the couple lived in areas across the United States and abroad. After Col. Cagle’s retirement, the couple settled in Oklahoma. Cagle returned to her hometown after her husband’s death in 1998. She lived close to the Cherokee County Public Library, which she visited nearly every day.

Cagle’s nephew, Vic Farish of Leesburg, Va., remembered his aunt as an avid reader who kept up with current events and loved books and newspapers. At any given time, he noted, Cagle had at least five books stacked within arm’s reach.

Cagle’s love of reading and her interest in world events, Farish added, made his aunt one of “the smartest, most well-educated people I have ever known.”

Cagle’s gift Winthrop University Permanent Endowment will provide a lasting legacy by supporting the work of the Winthrop University Foundation.

For more information about giving to Winthrop, contact the Office of Development at 803/323-2150.

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