Johnny Wharff, Board Member for Marietta Community Foundation, talks with Dan and Caroline Fouss to gain insight into why and how they practice local philanthropy.

Johnny Wharff: Welcome to another Marietta Community Foundation Donor Spotlight Interview. We're pleased to be joined by Dan and Caroline Fouss, and we'll get right to it. Let’s start with Caroline. Can you give a little background in terms of growing up in Marietta and some of the things that folks may not know about you?

 Caroline Fouss: I was involved in everything. I was from a family of six children, so I would go anywhere to get attention. I was involved with Y-Teens, student council, and all kinds of things in high school. A lot of altruistic things.

 JW: Talking about growing up. Your maiden name is Nida and we grew up together.

 CF: I think I babysat you!

 JW: I believe that could have been the case. We had a lot of fun. And just that group or that era of parents, it seemed like they gathered often. There's boosters, there's Jaycee’s, and there were things that maybe aren't as big now as they were then.

 CF: Well, my dad was in Kiwanis. He did pancake days and bowling and things like that. He was a dentist and he would help people that couldn't afford their bill. I know there was one patient that he had, he bought him a car so the guy could go get a job and then he paid it back. And he was doing a lot of things for the Amish who couldn't afford to have dental work done.

 JW: And obviously, we all learn from seeing. It's one thing to say, it’s another thing to see it. That's important. I remember all those things as well. As it relates to going through high school, college, into teaching, talk a little bit about those transitions and you’re now retired, right?

 CF: Yes.

 JW: So give us the background on that.

 CF: Well, I was at Marietta High School. I cheered and again, a lot of civic things. I did student Council. And then when I went to Ohio State, of course, I was too busy going to school and working to do a whole lot of fundraising or anything. And then when I graduated, well, Dan and I got married (44 years ago). We lived in Toledo and came back to Marietta. I was part of ADK, which is an altruistic teacher’s sorority. And I mean, when you're a teacher, you're giving all the time and it's very important to be positive all the time.

 JW: Then I’m pretty sure that ended in serving MEA all those years?

 CF: I was MEA all those years. I was told by Mrs. Norma Loew that's what I needed to do. So I ended up being President for a couple of years. And Children Services. I was on the children services board for 30 years.

 JW: And I will ask you a little bit more about that in a moment. And for reference, MEA is the Marietta Education Association. And, Dan, I would ask maybe for a little background on you as well in terms of growing up; where and when, and how and all that kind of good stuff.

 Dan Fouss: I was born and raised in Marietta and lived my whole life here. Went to Marietta High School, on to Ohio University and then University of Toledo Law School. I played sports as a child, youth teams like baseball, youth football, basketball. My parents were always involved with us kids. My dad coached little league baseball.

 JW: Well, so did you. I remember seeing you with the baseball hat on the sideline, more than I do anything else.

 DF: Yeah, a long time. Dr. Richard Hershey and I coached together for seven or eight years, all the way through Bantam League. Robert and Cameron were the same age. We had a lot of fun.

 JW: Yeah, a lot of fun. And then you think about how vibrant, at the time, Bantam League was. It's kind of been sectioned off and kids doing different things now. There was maybe no soccer or whatever the case might be, but Bantam League was huge.

 DF: Soccer was starting to come around when Cameron was growing up. But all the kids played Bantam League and they met kids from all over the county.

 JW: And the dads raised their hands pretty quickly to be the coach or at least some did, right?

 DF: Some did. Yeah, a lot of good folks involved with family.

 JW: Alright. And then law school and straight back to here?

 DF: Straight back to here.

 JW: Now I didn't ask Caroline about this, but fill me in on the rest of the family. Your kids? Where are they?

 DF: We have two children. Morgan is the oldest. She's lives in New Orleans and just is now surviving Ida. We talked to her. Luckily, she had On Star in her car because all the cell phones were out for a day or so. Our son, Cameron is an attorney at a law practice. He went to law school at Capital and graduated. He lives here in Marietta, practices law with me. Both the children are very involved in civic matters. Morgan is always talking about raising money down in New Orleans, particularly ARNO, which is Animal Rescue of New Orleans. She actually raised more money for ARNO than anybody else in New Orleans this year. And Cameron is past President of the Bar Association and was on the Board and President of the Boys and Girls Club. This year he is President of the Marietta Shrine Club.

 JW: And the Bar Association? I think for a while as well as President?

 DF: Yes, he was President for two years. He just ended that in February.

 JW: So as it relates to your profession, talk about as much as you could with the attorney-client relationship, as it relates to the Community Foundation. Because there might be instances where they ask you if it's an estate situation, they could ask you what they might do or what advice you could give. And I might be speaking out of turn.

 DF: You kind of raised that question earlier, and I gave it some thought. When I'm talking to clients, generally, a lot of them have kids, and naturally, it's going on to the kids. But you have people that want to know what to do with excess funds or have a lot of funds and I make sure that they're aware of the Community Foundation, first of all, and that they are aware of what it does and try to educate them to see if maybe they would be interested in donating to the Foundation.

 JW: And again, I come back to the ‘it's one thing to say, It's another thing to do it’ and you and Caroline put your money where your mouth is as it relates to this community foundation. And I don't know how long it's been, but I know that there is a history of giving to the Community Impact Fund, which helps the general fund, which keeps this Marietta Community Foundation alive and growing. And then Friends of the Foundation. So there are a couple of different funds that you guys support. Is that just you coming together thinking ‘we need to help out’ or are there specific needs or how does that work?

 DF: When we were first married, when we first came back to town, we had little money after getting out of law school. Marietta has treated us very well, obviously. And over the years, we decided why not give to where you live instead of other organizations where you don't know where the money goes. But with the Foundation, you know where those funds go. And you can see reading the paper, grants here, in and out money there. And we've always supported the Christmas Zoo.

 JW: So Caroline, add anything as it relates to your giving.

 CF: With the Christmas Zoo, Dan started it, taking the kids every Christmas (our two) and have them donate toys. And one year, the year I retired, I had all these frogs in my classroom and I didn't know what to do with them. I really didn't want to put them in my attic, so I had all my kids pick out a frog and we walked down and sang Christmas Carols at the Zoo. Speaking of Tony Weber, we went back and sang at his store, and he gave all the kids a piece of candy. It was a very pleasant activity that we did and I think hopefully that kind of instilled in the kids in my class that, you give.

 JW: Right. And then you had mentioned children services. So talk a little bit about that. I always like to say that the first step is somebody has to ask you to do it, or in this case, maybe tell you it's the right thing to do. But you have to agree. And you have to say yes. That's the most important part to me. Because if you don't say yes, it doesn't happen. So maybe talk a little bit about that. And then what do you remember most fondly about that service?

 CF: Oh yes, 30 years. We had gone out to dinner with John and Dottie Erb and John said, Caroline, you need to get involved in this and it was children's services. Virginia Amrine was stepping down at the time, so I did and stayed there 30 years. A fond memory of serving on the Board was working with Big Joe Wesel.  He was always such an inspiration. Some of my favorite memories were the Christmases that we got together and wrap presents. And that was before we had Secret Santa and other places that were donating toys and gifts and things. And you could wrap presents. You can't do that anymore. Meeting the foster families and being a part of the adoptions. Big Joe Wesel was a huge inspiration. But there was a lot of heartbreak too. As far as term limitations and things like that. The new building on Davis Avenue was a big project and I'm very proud of that.

 JW: Then Dan, I remember some time served, I think, on the WASCO board. Did you do that?

 DF: Yes, 20 years, the eighties and nineties. John Santone. Do you remember John?

 JW: I love hearing these names.

 DF: Of course you'd remember John and Carol Santone. When I was last on the board, we started the Harbor project, which was to get the people out in the community, doing regular jobs and not just sorting stuff at the building.

 JW: Right. I credit you guys for getting involved and then obviously showing and extending that to your children. Do you think that it's just different? We talked about how we'd all get together and the boosters and all. But I think if you look at the state of the world now, and the way the community foundation operates is probably as good as anything in terms of impacting the greatest number of people where their feet are right now that we can reach out and, and do that. Would you agree?

 DF: I would agree 100%.

 JW: And then Caroline, going forward if you can. I talked to Cam last week actually and told him I was going to interview you guys. He said, make sure you ask them who their favorite kid is. Doesn't that sound like him?

 CF: My answer to that is Cameron is my favorite son and Morgan is my favorite daughter.

 JW: That's pretty good. So you've got it. I feel the sense of pride, as we watch our kids grow up, that we'll pass that along. And that may be that extension has moved in the right direction. And you can probably look back to your folks and maybe even their folks. I don't think I knew them.

 CF: Great grandparents, the Otto brothers. I remember the story that during the war, and it was the First World War, the name Otto really didn't bring up good connotations. So my great grandfather put a flag across the whole front of his store to show that they were American-minded and civic people.

 JW: Alright. Well, thank you for your time. Anything else you want to add as it relates to the community foundation?

 CF: Just keep positive and give anything, even if it's just a smile or a compliment.

 JW: Dan and Caroline Fouss, our spotlight donors for Marietta Community Foundation. I'm Johnny Wharff and have a great day.