Leona Hine

It has been said that service to others is a form of rent paid for life's blessings. If so, Leona Hine's account should be stamped "paid in full."

That's because Hine gave of herself in so many ways. She volunteered at Binghamton's Ross Park Zoo. She was the first female Red Cross instructor in the United States. Although she never had children of her own, she became a surrogate grandmother to scores of children in her neighborhood. Denied a college education, Hine became a strong supporter of higher education, and her generosity will now help students at Binghamton University in perpetuity. Hine, who died in 2004 at age 85, bequeathed 45 percent of her estate – which may be worth $900,000 – to the scholarship fund she established in 1999. The fund supports scholarships to benefit full-time incoming freshmen or full-time upper-class students with high academic achievement and no, or limited, opportunities for federal or state financial aid.

"She was quite remarkable," said Catherine Sentz, director of gift planning for the Binghamton University Foundation and a friend of Hine for 10 years. "She was always interested in learning more. That's what made her so special."

Hine had been enrolled at Skidmore College after graduating from high school but wasn't able to attend because of family reasons. She eventually enrolled in secretarial school and went on to a long and successful career in the banking industry. She also followed her interests wherever they took her, said Sentz. An avid lover of the outdoors, Hine became an accomplished wildlife artist whose works were exhibited in galleries from northern Pennsylvania to the Canadian border. A lifelong learner, she took several courses through Lyceum, the University's continuing education program for people age 50 and older. She was even enrolled in a Lyceum course when she died.

Hine was also an author, writing several children's books and a history of the Hortons, the prominent Southern Tier family of which she was a descendent, that went back to the 1600s.

Barbara Skiadas, the wife of Ernest Skiadas '75 and mother Adam Skiadas '04, grew up next door to Hine on Binghamton's South Side. "She loved children. She was like a second grandmother to many kids in the neighborhood," said Skiadas. "She was a very giving person and was always thinking of others."

Skiadas' family often picnicked with Hine and her late husband, Ronald, on Quaker Lake during the summer, she said, which provided the scene of one of Hine's favorite stories. "She always claimed to have saved me from drowning by pulling me out of the water by my ponytail," said Skiadas, who doesn't recall the incident. "She loved to tell that story."

Hine's interest in her well being even extended to her wanting to meet anyone Skiadas dated. "Ernie had to pass muster with her," laughed Skiadas, whose husband was Hine's accountant.

Both Skiadas and Sentz said Hine's generous bequest to the University was completely in character. "Helping others to get an education that she wasn't able to get was a priority for her," said Sentz.