Professor emeritus leaves ECC largest-ever gift

A former Elgin Community College history professor has posthumously made history himself, with the single largest donation to the school in its 61-year history.

College officials announced Monday the receipt of a $495,821 from the estate of Professor Emeritus Karl Lehr.

Lehr's gift comes with specific instructions - to establish a scholarship for a top ECC student who has plans to transfer to a four-year college to complete a degree in U.S. history.

Lehr, the college's first full-time faculty member died last February at age 93 in his hometown of Allentown, Pa.

Lehr, college officials said, was instrumental in helping the college get accredited from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. He was known for demanding excellence both inside and outside the classroom.

In a college news release, several professors who'd worked with Lehr reminisced about the professor's quirks and love for the subject.

Professor Emeritus John Near, of Algonquin, said in a news release that Lehr's office was a sort of history museum of its own - containing historical artifacts, old books and droves of newspaper clippings.

"Lehr knew something about every single one," Near said.

Jack Weiss, a retired ECC dean who knew Lehr before his retirement, recalled seeing a piece of teak wood railing in Lehr's office that was part of a decommissioned ship used in the World War II D-Day invasion of Normandy. Lehr, who served in the Army, was there.

"That was Karl," Weiss said. "And that was history."

This is the largest, but not the only gift of Lehr's to the college in recent years.

Lehr's donation will be added to the ECC Foundation's current $1.88 million endowment.