Gifts To Penn State Memorialize Penny Garban

September 15, 2000
University Park, Pa.– The family and friends of Penny A. Garban have made gifts totaling $200,000 in her memory to support several initiatives at the University. Penny

A. Garban died in an accidental drowning in 1997. She was married to longtime Penn State administrator Steve A. Garban, who retired in 1993 as the University’s senior vice president of finance and operations/treasurer emeritus after 33 years of service.

The family directed $150,000 to help build the Hintz Family Alumni Center, now under construction. The center will provide welcoming and orientation facilities for visiting alumni and office space for the Penn State Alumni Association. It is being built entirely with private funds. The center’s library will be named in memory of Penny

A. Garban, who worked as a coordinator in the Alumni Association.

The family has also created two endowments in memory of Penny Garban: one in cardiology at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center to provide research support in the areas of artrial fibrillation and congestive heart failure, and the other for an undergraduate golf scholarship for women.

Steve Garban, a native of Grindstone, Fayette County, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Penn State in 1959. The University named him a Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor it bestows on its graduates, in 1995 in recognition of his many years of service as a financial officer, including 12 years as senior vice president and treasurer. Steve and Penny Garban’s sons, Andrew and Douglas, daughter-in-law D’Anne, and grandson, Alex, all reside in State College. A daughter, Donna, and her husband, Wil Hinds, and granddaughter, Penelope, live in Hoboken, New Jersey.