owsley Brown frazier LIKE SO MANy IN LOuISVILLE AND THROuGHOuT THE COMMONwEALTH, My wIfE MAuREEN AND I wERE DEEPLy SADDENED TO LEARN Of THE DEATH Of OuR DEAR fRIEND OwSLEy BROwN fRAzIER, A MAN Of TREMENDOuS INTELLECT AND GRACE, wITH A COMPELLING PASSION fOR IMPROVING THE HuMAN CONDITION. From left, Owsley Brown Frazier examines a model of the Bellarmine Knight sculpture with Dr. Joseph J. McGowan and artist Bob Lockhart; is “roasted” by Dr. McGowan; is Knighted in 1998; and attends the dedication of the Owsley B. Frazier Stadium in 2007. Owsley’s incredible philanthropy was an expression of his values, chair in 1992, he immediately said yes. Over the next several his principles, and his spirit for life, much of which he learned years, he devoted more hours than could ever have been expected from his mother. The areas where he offered support were broad, as he helped us build and achieve a vision to move our university reflecting his interests in history, in the arts, in athletics, and in forward, for the benefit of our students and the region we serve. academic life – particularly the liberal arts. His leadership helped us complete over 100 projects at Bellarmine, His legacy, at our institution and throughout our community, each deepening our educational quality and enhancing the success goes far beyond the buildings and projects that bear his family name. and efficacy of the Bellarmine educational experience. At Bellarmine University, he helped us realize many of our Rather than remember him only for his unmatched generosity, aspirations – our impressive W. L. Lyons Brown Library, our which included a lifetime of philanthropy that exceeded $500 mil- Owsley B. Frazier Stadium and our school of education, named lion, Maureen and I will always cherish our memory of his keen for his daughter Annsley Frazier Thornton – but he also offered intellect, his empowering love, and the wonderful sense of irony financial support for the education of individual students, when and humor that made him all the more lovable. he heard they were in particular need. On occasion, I would join him at his cabin in rural Kentucky. Owsley was committed to improving higher education in We shared great meals there – he was a man of great hospitality the Commonwealth and possessed the resources to bring that – and I know that on multiple occasions, I amused him with my improvement to life. I shared and respected his belief that mov- incompetence in the art of fishing. ing our region forward required a leading private university and a Owsley was selective in choosing his friends, but when he vibrant public university. It was that shared belief that guided his was your friend, he found many ways to help you become the ongoing support for our university and the University of Louisville, best you could be. He valued loyalty and trust in friendship, and balanced with his ongoing commitment to health care, the arts, for that and so many other reasons, I am honored and humbled and the preservation of our history. to have had the privilege to call Owsley Brown Frazier a friend. I met Owsley in 1990, when I became Bellarmine’s president. On the day Owsley died, my office was urgently trying to He already was two years into what became 12 years of service reach me while I was off campus in a board meeting. As I returned on our Board of Trustees. I was immediately impressed by the the call, I was concerned that it might involve a member of my seriousness and intensity with which he approached his service to family. It did. Owsley became such a dear friend, and made me our institution, and learned a great deal about leadership from him. feel so welcome in Louisville, that it is difficult to imagine Lou- When the board authorized me to invite him to become board isville without him. 26 BellarMine Magazine
WINTER2013_BELLARMINE MAG
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