Hug Bequest to Benefit Students At New Kensington Campus

April 20, 2000
New Kensington --- When Hazel Hug died in January, at age 92--unsung because she wanted it that way--she left a legacy of good works that will continue to benefit people in the Alle-Kiski Valley and far beyond into the distant future.

In her will, Hug left $200,000 to Penn State New Kensington for a scholarship fund in her name and $50,000 to the campus' Elisabeth S. Blissell Library.

"Hazel Hug was very much inspired by her relationship with a life-long friend, Elisabeth Blissell," says the executrix of Hug's estate, Jane Glenn. "Libby was one of the people who got Penn State to locate a campus in New Kensington. Hazel, I think, wanted to do the kinds of things Libby was involved in all of her life."

Libby Blissell was a philanthropist by both instinct and interest. She made a study of the subject and learned how best to distribute her wealth. Her friend Hazel Hug followed her lead.

"Libby guided her in the world of concern for community organizations and wanting to see them continue to survive and grow. Hazel was an apt pupil," Glenn says.

Hazel Hug became the largest individual donor in Penn State New Kensington's history. Files in the school's development office include notes regarding her determination to remain anonymous. That request was honored, despite Mrs. Hug's having previously contributed more than $134,000 to establish the Thelma Clausner Scholarship Fund in memory of her sister.

Across the years, all manner of Penn State New Kensington students have benefited from Hazel Hug's generosity. That they will continue to benefit is a product of Hazel Hug's adroit handling of a fortune left by her late husband, Willis Hug, the founder of Central Drug Company, which was later bought by Thrift Drug Company and ultimately by J.C. Penney.

Willis Hug died five years after marrying Hazel Arb, the redoubtable postmistress of Parnassus for 37 years. After her husband's death more than 30 years ago, Hazel Hug and her sister, Thelma Clausner, became Libby Blissell's fast friends. When Clausner died, her sister started a scholarship fund in her honor at Penn State New Kensington and began to seriously consider the final disposition of her wealth.

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Contact: Patricia Winter, director of development and university relations at Penn State New Kensington, at (724) 334-6056 or at