MOUNT HOLLY — St. Joseph College Seminary is the beneficiary of an unusual estate gift from someone who never visited the seminary or even set foot in the Diocese of Charlotte.
Mary Josephine “Jo” Pankowski, 94, of West Palm Beach, Fla., left the college seminary’s capital campaign $52,000 in her will when she passed away last May.
Pankowski learned of the college seminary from her niece and goddaughter, Julie Trueman. Trueman and her husband Tom are parishioners of St. Elizabeth Church in Boone. The Truemans are very active in their community and are themselves supporters of the college seminary.
Pankowski did not have any children, so she entrusted her niece with helping her manage her charitable donations in her will. She often sought Trueman’s assistance in changing and adding charities to her list of those organizations she wanted to support after her death.
She had a deep devotion to her namesake, St. Joseph, so when Trueman told her about St. Joseph College Seminary, she surprised Trueman by adding it to her list of charities that would receive a percentage of her estate in her will.
Trueman said her aunt, born in Chicago in 1926, grew up near Mundelein Seminary and it was important to their whole family. Pankowski also left an estate gift to Mundelein Seminary, which is the principal seminary for the formation of priests in the Archdiocese of Chicago.
“She always told me she wanted to give 20 percent of her estate to charities in her trust,” Trueman said. “I think the name St. Joseph College Seminary really made her want to include it in her trust. She had a special devotion to St. Joseph, St. Anthony and the Blessed Mother.”
Trueman also believes that when her aunt learned about the priest shortage in parts of the growing South, she was inspired to triple her original financial gift – appreciating the college seminary’s mission to form future priests to serve the rising number of faithful in western North Carolina.
“It is wonderful to see someone from outside the diocese make an estate gift to the seminary capital campaign,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development. “The good work we do in this diocese in many ways is being recognized by people across the country. This is just one example of that. Even though St. Joseph College Seminary is only five years old, a donor has already established an endowment for the seminary and several people have called us to say they are remembering the seminary in their estate plans.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Help support St. Joseph College Seminary’s capital campaign
The St. Joseph College Seminary capital campaign fundraising is under way, with $19 million of the $20 million raised so far. For information about the St. Joseph College Seminary capital campaign, go to www.stjosephcollegeseminary.orgor contact Fredrik Akerblom, St. Joseph College Seminary development director, at 704-302-6386 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..