Leaving a Legacy

Orville Gunther, Private Donor 

When Orville C. Gunther was asked recently if he had to live life over would he live differently, he answered no.

I’ve enjoyed everything I have done in life and have had a variety of choice experiences, he said.

One of those valued associations has come from Gunther’s affiliation with UVSC over the last 60 years. As one of the first instructors of the College in its wartime infancy, Gunther was drafted to teach the trade of sheet metal fabrication that he learned from his father.

I have always had a great interest in the vocational trades and I was able to transmit that to some of the early students, Gunther said. It was from working with those individuals that I made a commitment that if I ever acquired sufficient, I would contribute funds to that college.

As the former president and now Chairman of the Board at the Bank of American Fork for over 50 years, 90-year-old Gunther has been successful in business and life. Basing his life’s goal on a Greek Athenian oath, Gunther strives to live his life for the betterment of the community. That has been my ideal to leave this world a little better, materially and spiritually, than it was when I came here.

As premier supporters of education at UVSC, Orville and his wife, Betha, have had am impact on hundreds of students’ lives for the better. The family has an endowed scholarship for special needs students in the trades and nursing programs. The Gunther Trades Building on campus is also named in recognition of their longtime contributions.

Yet acknowledgment is not what motivates Gunther’s giving.

It touches my heart every time to meet with my scholarship recipients and hear of their struggles to receive further education, he said. I ask them not to thank me, but encourage them when they become more capable through the result of this education, to do likewise to someone else. This way, through their giving, my gift will be amplified.

Gunther believes he is one who gives with joy, so joy is his reward.

I feel guilty about that, he said with a smile, but giving to UVSC is wonderfully satisfying.

Printed in the UVSC Annual Report 2001-2002