Samuel F.B. Morse Family Honored at National Philanthropy Day Celebration

The Middlebury Institute recognized the Morse family in the wake of receiving its largest-ever bequest, $4.5 million from a trust Morse established almost 50 years ago. The gift establishes an endowed fund at the Institute that will support student scholarships, academic programs, and other priorities.

Each November, the local community celebrates National Philanthropy Day with a luncheon that “honors giving, volunteering, and charitable engagement and highlights the accomplishments that philanthropy--and those in the philanthropic process--makes to our society and our world.”

Accepting the honors at Philanthropy Day, fittingly held in Pebble Beach at the Inn at Spanish Bay, was Morse’s grandson, Charley Osborne. “My grandfather felt that any success he had started with the schools he attended and his dream for the Peninsula was to make Pebble Beach a sportsman’s paradise and for Monterey to be the center of higher education,” he said.

Morse established a trust before his death in May 1969 to provide income to his four children. He stipulated that upon the passing of his last surviving child, remaining funds would be divided among three educational institutions, including the Middlebury Institute.

Past Middlebury Institute Philanthropy Day honorees since 1999 include:

• Bob Lundeen
• Orville Wright
• Sheila and Joe Mark
• Sarah Bonner
• Beverly Hamilton
• Peter Grothe
• Nancy and Bill Doolittle
• Lani and Buzz Schulte
• Paulien Ruijssenaars
• Janet Wall and Bob Gard
• Laurie and David Benjamin
• Deborah and Robin Hicks
• Suzie and Glynn Wood;
• Judy and Dick Borda
• Cary Neiman
• Sarah and Tom Pattison
• Steve Baker