Why I Give to FarmHouse Foundation

Morrison Loewenstein (NE '35), emeritus professor of dairy science, has been a generous donor and supporter of FarmHouse Fraternity and Foundation. He is a member of the H.K. Wilson Club, in recognition of his generous support.

Morrison joined FarmHouse as a freshman at the University of Nebraska. He earned three degrees in agriculture and took on a career in higher education. Over the years he taught at three different universities. He retired after teaching dairy science at the University of Georgia. Morrison and his wife, Genevieve, reside in Austell, GA.

He was asked recently about his participation as a donor to the FarmHouse Foundation, which he has supported for many years.

I really have not done any thing notable. I am just a country boy born on a dry land farm in mid Nebraska; the best thing that happened to me was to have a mother who insisted that her sons should go to college. The farm was not productive enough to pay our way, so we knew we would have to do it on our own. Thus we started off knowing that we had to excel in what we did.

As the result, by the time I graduated from high school, I was selected to be a National Vice President of FFA (Future Farmers of America). I also had received a scholarship from the Union Pacific Railroad good for tuition at the University of Nebraska for one semester. I did not have enough money to pay board and room so waited a year to start, but still without any money but with a promise of an NYA job (100 hours monthly at $0.25 an hour), I enrolled at the university.

My older brother, John, was a senior and house manager at the time, so I was invited to pledge FarmHouse. The house bill was $25.00 monthly, so I had my way paid for. I had very little time for extra-curricular activities, but did do my share in maintaining the House scholastic average at the top.

My life then has consisted of marrying my college sweetheart, Genevieve, having three sons, seven grandchildren (all of whom have graduated from college), and six great-grandchildren. I earned two additional degrees from two institutions, and have held professor positions in three universities. I also spent nearly five years in the Army, 2 ½ in the European Theater.

My life has been a very full and happy one. Genevieve and I feel that for all the Lord has provided us, we need to pass some thing on to the future. Our experience in FarmHouse (Gen was with me most of those years) meant so much to us we must include it when we pass on. We have also established scholarships at the University of Nebraska and the University of Georgia. We believe this is a fitting way of expressing our gratitude to our Maker and our comrades who accompanied us on this trip.