RENSHAW HALL
Dedicated Oct. 27. 1967 in honor of
PHILLIP EUGENE RENSHAW,
Class of 1931
July 6, 1907 - Feb. 22, 2005
Fairbanks, Alaska - Seattle, Wash.
and
HELEN LAURA LEACH RENSHAW,
Class of 1932
May 26, 1910-June 16, 1981,
Park Rapids, Minn. - Seattle, Wash.
and in appreciation of the
LINFIELD COLLEGE FACULTY
:::::::::::::::::::::
Memorial rites Sunday for
Helen Renshaw, author
June 18, 1981, Seattle Times
A memorial service for Mrs. Helen L. Renshaw, 71, author and philanthropist, will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Seattle First Baptist Church. Burial at 3 p.m. Thursday, at Evergreen Memorial Park in Seattle will be private. She died Tuesday after a long illness.
Born in Park Rapids, Minn., Mrs. Renshaw moved to Bremerton with her parents where her father, the late Frederick R. Leach, became minister of the First Baptist Church. She was a co-donor, with her husband, Philip E., of Renshaw Hall at Linfield College in McMinnville, Ore.
Mrs. Renshaw was honored by the Seattle Art Museum in 1968 for being a co-donor with her husband of the French Impressionist painting “Effet de Printemps,” by Armand Guillaumin.
About 5,000 of her articles and short stories have been published through the years, most in religious magazines.
Mrs. Renshaw was cited as woman of the year in 1959 by Phi Delta Nu for her services to the blind for serving one day a week for 15 years in the Blind Children Library of the Seattle Public Library.
Mrs. Renshaw was a former member of the Seattle Free Lances, Seattle Tennis Club, the Rainier Club, Washington Athletic Club, the Seattle Golf Club, and the O’Donnell Golf Club in Palm Springs, Calif.
In addition to her husband, she is survived by a son, Philip E. Renshaw, Jr., Seattle.
Memorials are suggested to the Seattle Kidney Foundation.
..............................................
Woman of Year Award Given Mrs. Renshaw
December 16, 1959, Seattle Times
Phi Delta Nu, authors and artists’ fraternity, this noon presented its Woman of the Year award to Helen Laura Renshaw (Mrs. Philip E.) for her service to the blind. The presentation was made at the group’s Christmas luncheon in the Mayflower Hotel.
Mrs. Renshaw’s citation stated she has given “countless hours of her time for the Blind Children’s Library of the Seattle Public Library, which furnishes “talking book” (records) to blind children. Many of Mrs. Renshaw’s articles and stories appear regularly in magazines published in Braille and she is a regular contributor to the magazine The White Cane.
..............................................
Helen Renshaw’s Stories Appear in Anthologies
April 7, 1963, Seattle Times
HELEN RENSHAW has just received advanced copies of hard-cover anthologies, each one containing one of her stories. In recent years, Mrs. Philip E. Renshaw has rung up an enviable sales record of more than a thousand articles and short stories – most of them to the Christian press, meaning the hundreds of magazines issued by the publishing houses of the various denominations.
Her story, “The Uppers Doers,” which had already appeared in a slightly condensed version in the book “Reading For Significance,” one of the Golden Rule Series published by the American Book Company, also has been included in the complete version in “Adventures For Readers,” just issued by Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.
Another of her stories, “Delivered With Care” is included in “Let’s Read,” just issued by Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
“The Uppers Doers” involves a group of youngsters who, on the day school is out for vacation, make a pact just to loaf. One by one each covers an inner dissatisfaction with the plan and, one by one, and secretly each begins doing something worthwhile, becoming an “upper and doer.”
In “Delivered With Care,” a boy years to have a paper route just as his brother does. But, he is declared too young for the job. Then his brother becomes ill. Substituting for his brother, he has a chance to prove himself.
............................................
HELEN LAURA LEACH RENSHAW
MAY 26, 1910 - JUNE 16, 1981
Helen was born in Manistique, Minnesota, the only daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Frederick R. Leach where her father was pastor of the First Baptist Church and where Helen spent her early childhood. She had three half-brothers, the youngest of whom was 10 years older than Helen.
Helen and her parents moved West and after a brief time in Portland, Oregon, with the National Denomination, Rev. Leach became pastor of the First Baptist Church in Medford, Oregon, where they lived for several years and Helen completed grammar school.
In 1925 the Leach family moved to Bremerton, Washington, where Helen's father was pastor of the Bremerton Baptist Church and where Helen completed high school, graduating in 1929 with honors.
That fall, Helen enrolled in Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, where she majored in English and was active in public speaking and drama and was a member of Kappa Alpha Phi Sorority. Helen – a member of the Class of 1932 -- left college in 1931 to marry Philip Eugene Renshaw who graduated that year from Linfield. They were married Oct, 17, 1931, by her father in the Bremerton church. In 1937 their only child was born, Philip Eugene Renshaw, Jr.
Helen was first interested in becoming an artist but when she submitted some art work with appropriate text for a book for children, the editors expressed interest in her writing and asked for more. This became the beginning of a more than 30 year writing career during which several thousand stories and articles by her were published, primarily in young people's magazines, school books and denominational publications.
In spite of her great love of writing she disciplined her time so that she never let it interfere with the care of her home and husband and son which she felt was the most important thing in her life. As a matter of fact, her son didn't even know she was a successful author. When Phil Junior was in fifth grade the class had their books open to a story by Helen. The teacher asked Phil if he knew this Mrs. Renshaw, he replied, with much surprise, "That's my Mom!"
And Helen received letters from many readers around the world, one from a school boy in Africa. They became penpals and she sponsored his education in the United States. His name is Kalu Maduka from Nigeria. He finished college, graduate school and worked for a while as a psychologist in a U.S. federal program. He met and married Peris Methu from Kenya, a fellow psychology student in graduate school. After their first two children were born in Oregon, they returned to Nigeria where Kalu became a Professor of Abnormal Psychology and Peris taught Social Work. Helen maintained close contact with Kalu and Peris until her death.
As busy as Helen was, she found time for more than 15 years to spend one day a week at the Library for the Blind in Seattle writing annotations or summaries for books for the blind. She was an active member of the National League of American Pen Women and was named 1959 “Woman of the Year” award winner by Phi Delta Nu, honorary fraternity of Authors and Creative Artists. The honor was reported in both the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspapers.
She and her husband traveled widely which she loved and when her health began to fail and she went on the dialysis machine, she spent most of the year in southern California because she loved the sun. When other complications set in, including double pneumonia, with the concurrence of her doctor, she chose to go off dialysis having been told that she would have approximately six days to live. She died on June 16, 1981, at home in Seattle.
Source: Lightly edited from what appears in the seven volume “The published works on Helen Laura Leach Renshaw, 1910-1981.”
…………………………………
Found online in 2024:
· At Linfield, the ‘Helen Laura Leach Renshaw Scholarship’ is for undergraduate students with selection based on participation in leadership positions.
· The Renshaw Emerging Writer Fellowship at Linfield University in the Creative Writing Program is apparently named for the Renshaws.
::::::::
Seattle Art Museum (SAM) Legacy: Philip E. Renshaw (1907–2005)
Philip Renshaw passed away peacefully in his sleep on February 22, 2005. Philip was one of the original board members for SAM under Dr. Richard E. Fuller. He was elected to the SAM Board of Trustees in 1968 and became an Honorary Trustee in 1976. Philip’s ardent philanthropy and quiet generosity resonate throughout the community. Philip remained active until his last days, and he will be missed dearly by all who knew him.
::::
PHILIP RENSHAW OBITUARY
Published in the Seattle Times from Feb. 27 - March 1, 2005.
Philip Eugene RENSHAW Born July 6, 1907, in a log cabin in Fairbanks, Alaska, was one of four children born to William K. and Grace D. Renshaw. The family left Alaska in 1912 and moved to Ballard. Hardship defined their early lives with the death of both parents in 1919. Phil and his siblings Willard, Ellen and Grace, ranging in age from six months to 14 years, were split up, and Phil found himself in Oregon moving from one family to the next, occasionally to no family at all.
The instability of his home life resulted in a truncated education, culminating in graduation in 1924 from Jefferson High School in Portland. During a cross-country road trip with two friends, with "Portland to Portland or Bust" emblazoned on their Model A Ford, Phil resolved to go to college and make something of himself. He returned to Oregon and enrolled in Linfield College in McMinnville from which he graduated magna cum laude in 2 ½ years. He served as senior class president and met the most beautiful woman in the class, Helen Laura Leach. Competitors in an oratorical contest, Helen won 1st place and Phil won 2nd. A few months after graduation, they were married Oct. 17, 1931, in Bremerton with Helen's father, a Baptist minister, officiating. The young couple established themselves in Seattle during the height of the Great Depression in 1931 and Phil began work for the Seattle School Board. Phil's proficiency with IBM punch card machines reduced costs and streamlined efficiency for Seattle Schools. IBM took notice of Phil, and recruited him to the Company where he enjoyed great success for several years and received many sales awards.
During these early days in his career, Phil and Helen welcomed their only child, Philip Jr. (Eugene “Gene”), in 1937. Although committed to caring for his family, Phil was also determined to do his part for the war effort in WWII and enlisted in the Navy. He was stationed in the Pacific Theatre for his tour of duty in 1944-1945. After the war, Phil returned to his family and to his job with IBM. Subsequently, Phil established his own company, Renshaw Industries, later known as Tally Corp. Their high-speed line printers remain in production today as Tally Genicom. Phil retired upon the sale of his company in the late 1970s. His retirement lasted nearly 30 years, during which time he visited 65 countries on six of the seven continents and spent time in every state and province in North America. He planned to visit Bermuda in late March 2005.
A philanthropist, Phil's favorite causes were Linfield College Liberal Arts Program, Virginia Mason Hospital Foundation, the Seattle Art Museum, and most recently, Horizon House Retirement Community. Phil charted his own course in life. He shared his life memories with Michelle Wilkinson, who recorded his recollections, thoughts and ideas in his memoirs. After two years, they completed the project on Sunday, February 20th , and he passed away peacefully in his sleep two days later. Phil was preceded in death by his wife Helen (1910-1981) and son Phil Jr. (Feb. 9, 1937-April 4, 1982)
As broadly interpreted family patriarch, he is survived by Stewart (Michelle) Renshaw, John Renshaw, Ben Heineck, Barbara R. Heineck, Barbara C. Renshaw, Dale Hookway, Bill Renshaw, Matthew Renshaw, David Renshaw, LTC Timothy Renshaw, Joshua Renshaw, Yvonne Knowles, David Heineck, Kalu (Peris) Maduka, their families and many dear friends and associates worldwide.
Viewing, EVERGREEN WASHELLI FUNERAL HOME, Tuesday, March 1, Noon - 8 p.m. Memorial Service, SEATTLE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, Thursday, March 3, 11 a.m. Gifts in Phil's memory are directed to Linfield College (McMinnville, OR), Virginia Mason Foundation (Seattle), the Seattle Art Museum and Horizon House (Seattle).
::::::::
Summer 2005 Linfield Magazine:
“Phil Renshaw ‘31, long-time trustee of Linfield and one of the college’s most avid supporters, passed away Feb. 22 in Seattle, Wash. Renshaw was born July 6, 1907, in Fairbanks, Alaska. He came to Linfield at the urging of President Leonard Riley although he interrupted his education for a stint as a hotel night clerk in New York City, finding college too “structured.” After returning, he graduated magna cum laude with majors in economics and business administration. Renshaw was the founder and president of Talley Corporation, which developed systems to manage large quantities of data. Renshaw was associated with Linfield College for nearly half of its history and knew eight of its 18 presidents. His generosity supported the college through lean times and good times and his wisdom in directing his gifts helped shape the kind of education Linfield offers its students. Renshaw Hall is named in honor of him and his wife Helen (Leach) Renshaw ‘32 who passed away in 1981. His son, Philip Eugene Renshaw, who passed away in 1982, also attended Linfield for two years. Renshaw Avenue, the street which runs directly in front of Renshaw Hall, was named in Renshaw’s honor in 1993. Countless Linfield students have benefited from his generosity through scholarship funds which he established. Renshaw had served on the Board of Trustees since 1957 and was chair of the board from 1964 to 1971. “He time and again exercised a remarkable ability to guide the college through difficult periods in such a way that it emerged not weakened, but strengthened,” said President Vivian A. Bull. He was named Alumnus of the Year in 1970 and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1969.”
#
=According to the 1933 Linfield Oak Leaves yearbook: In March of that year “Helen Leach was; once more chosen as the Linfield orator in the Old Line Contest. Her oration, ‘The New Woman,’ was strikingly present.
“In the Pi Kappa Delta meet Miss Leach won first place in the women’s contest, speaking on “Visions of Hope.'' Her oration was chosen at the one to be sent to the national Pi Kappa Delta essay contest. Philip Renshaw won second place in the men’s contest, speaking on ‘Visions of Destiny.’ ”=
….
Originally posted Aug. 26, 2024
