Background
Hallie Brown was born in Red Fork, Oklahoma, on March 17, 1905.
Hallie Brown was born in Red Fork, Oklahoma, on March 17, 1905.
She attended Beggs High School where she was valedictorian.
A native of Oklahoma, she acquired her wealth in through the timber industry. As a philanthropist she made donations to many institutions in Oklahoma and to support education and the arts Hallie Ford Museum of Art and several other institutions at Willamette University in are named in her honor, as are several items at her alma mater East Central University in Oklahoma.
At the time it was Indian Territory, with Oklahoma becoming a state in 1907.
She worked her way through college at East Central State Normal School (now East Central University) in the town of Ada. There she earned a teaching certificate and a bachelor’s degree in 1930.
After college she began teaching in Oklahoma. She met Kenneth Ford there, and the two married in 1935.
In 1959, she worked with artist Harry Widman on a 200-plus piece art exhibit for "s Centennial in Roseburg.
Hallie moved to Salem, in 1972. In 1992 her alma mater, East Central University, named her as a distinguished alumni. The Fords" charity created the Ford Scholars Program scholarships for students in 1993.
She then started the Ford Opportunity Scholarship Program in 1995 for single parents.
That year her charitable foundation became the Ford Family Foundation. Her husband Kenneth died on February 8, 1997.
In 2002, she moved to an assisted living facility in Monmouth, In 2006, Ford donated an additional $8 million to Willamette University, the largest single donation in that school"s history. In May 2007, Hallie Ford donated $15 million to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, the largest donation in that school"s history.
The donation would primarily be used for a visiting artists program
This donation to the college was the largest donation to any cultural group in "s history. Also that month she was given the Distinguished Philanthropist Award by East Central University. The gift went toward the Hallie Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families as part of the school"s College of Health and Human Sciences.
Hallie Ford died on June 4, 2007 in Monmouth,, at the age of 102 after a brief illness.
Ford Hall at Willamette University is named in her honor, as is the school"s English and literature endowed professorship.
In 1975, she became a member of the board of trustees at Willamette University in Salem.