Mrs. Olga Mural -- Our University Benefactor passed away Saturday, May 31, 2008.
It is with the deepest sorrow that I inform you that Mrs. Olga Mural, a true angel for Kent State University, a person who loved our students and cared so deeply for the many people she came to know at the university, passed away yesterday. Mr. Joe Macedo informed me that she had been hospitalized for a few weeks and rallied from time to time but never fully recovered.
Olga lived her life to the fullest. She had a great sense of humor. One of the greatest laughs I had was when she described the visit of another university’s president to her apartment and how “she had to put him out because all he talked about was my money!” Most important, she was wanted to make a difference. Her face lit up when she talked to the Founders Scholarship recipients. Being No.1 on the baseball team (she had her own jersey thanks to Coach Scott Strickland), and her assistance to the Nursing program for the Simulation Lab, made her so happy. She knew that she was helping others. In our own College she provided 12 Founders Scholarships, provided funding for the operating costs to the Olga A. Mural Trading Floor, endowed a professorship in Financial Engineering, and visited us every Valentine’s Day her health permitted. We are truly blessed and honored to have had her for our friend and angel!
George Stevens
From: Joseph Macedo
Institutional Advancement
Date: June 3, 2008
I know that many of you are already aware that Olga Mural passed away over the weekend. She passed away comfortably in her sleep at the Hospice Center after a brief struggle with pneumonia.
Olga had been a prolific donor to a wide array of charitable purposes at Kent State University. She had made program changing contributions to our Founders Scholars program, the Financial Engineering program, our Baseball team, the College of Nursing and the President’s Entrepreneurial fund. Our university has never had a donor whose philanthropic commitment reached out to so many diverse areas and such a broad array of our student community.
Her mantel as a renaissance donor and as our institutional angel was well deserved and derived from her strong desire to touch as many lives as her resources would allow. She will be sorely missed and her impact on our university will be felt for many decades to come.
The funeral will be a private affair with family and close friends only and there will be no visitation. However, there will be a memorial service on Tuesday, June 10 from 11:00 AM to noon. It will be held at Bokas Funeral Home, 3653 West Market Street in Akron. The phone number there is (330) 666-8011. After the service lunch will be provided along with the opportunity to meet Olga’s family and friends.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in her memory to the Kent State University Foundation, John Happy CLL Research Fdn, P.O. Box 271, Denville, NJ 07834 or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 332 N. Lauderdale, Memphis TN, 38105.
Members of our university community are encouraged to attend and share with Olga’s friends and family our appreciation for all that Olga had come to mean to Kent State University.
Cards and letters of condolence can also be sent to:
Andrea Johanns and family
4018 Sharon Copley Road
Medina, OH 44256
Please feel free to share this information with any members of the Kent State community you feel might appreciate it, along with an invitation to participate in the memorial service and lunch at 3653 West Market Street in Akron.