The Hoyt Foundation

The mission of the Stewart W. and Willma C. Hoyt Foundation, Inc., created to perpetuate the Hoyts' charitable interest, is to use its resources to enhance the quality of life of the people of Broome County primarily through judicious grantmaking. Willma Cornell Hoyts Broome County roots ran deep. An only child, she was born in 1888 to a family wit... h a long history in the area. Her grandfather Cornell had established a successful funeral business, later continued by her father, first in Port Crane and then in Binghamton. The family enjoyed the respect of the community in part because of the value they placed on family, church, friendship, and high standards of business practice. In 1907, at age 19, Willma married Stewart, a native of Michigan. The Hoyts, who were childless, lived with her parents at 70 Front Street for many years, and the two couples were very close. Both Hoyts were generous, and throughout the 60 years of their marriage, they followed a pattern of regular giving to their church and to arts and social service organizations in the Broome County area. Two years after Stewarts death in 1968 at the age of 94, Willma established the Hoyt Foundation with assets based on their early investments in IBM. Annual gifts to the community, in accordance with the Hoyts long established interests, were made by a small board including Willma for the remainder of her life. When she died in 1982, also at the age of 94, the foundation received its major fundingsome $9 millionfrom her estate. Although the lives of both Willma and Stewart Hoyt were distinguished by quiet philanthropy, they would be surprised at the extent to which their legacy has benefited the community in which they made their home for so many years. Since 1971, grants to the people of Broome County from the Hoyt Foundation have totaled over approximately $29 million, a remarkable gift from a couple whose unassuming lives were made extraordinary by their generosity to others. $22.7 million. Stewart and Willma Hoyts vision and funding, coupled ...Read More