Million-Dollar Legacy

Sometimes generosity arrives by surprise.

While any largess is great news for City College, the surprise discovery of a $1 million bequest left to the college from the estate of former San Diego Mayor Frank Curran was especially welcome. It is the largest single donation to the college ever, and comes from a man who was instrumental in the redevelopment of the area surrounding the college.

It was Curran who helped lead efforts to lower B Street during his term from the mid-’60s to the early ’70s, and it was Curran Plaza that was built so that students would not have to cross the busy street between classrooms. His legacy as mayor is felt to this day at City College, so when Carol Dexheimer, the college’s director of Administrative Services, opened a letter addressed to the San Diego City College Foundation last January, imagine her surprise when she swam through the legalese and found a most welcome gift.

“Basically, it sounded like we were going to be the sole recipient of the former mayor’s estate,” Dexheimer said. “At first, we really had no idea what it would mean financially. I remember saying, ‘Why, that’s very nice of them.’”

College officials met with attorneys, and following a real estate appraisal, it became apparent that Curran, who died in 1992, and his wife Florence, who died in January, had left the college an estate worth approximately $1 million.

While no reason was given as to why the Currans left their entire estate to the college, it is known that Curran was particularly proud of his downtown redevelopment projects, and it is said he had a fond place in his heart for City College, where he took a class back when it was known as San Diego Junior College.

Curran was mayor from 1963 to 1971, and from 1971 to 1983 was executive director of the Central City Association, where he continued to help redevelop downtown, part of a team that transformed the area into a safe, thriving neighborhood again after years of decline.

Dexheimer says she was emotional while helping pack several boxes containing the Curran’s belongings, items that ran from the personal to the political, from dishes and linens to keys from different cities and photographs of visiting dignitaries. Now comes the interesting part of the process, deciding where the items will land.

“We certainly have a lot of work ahead of us,” Dexheimer said. “Many of their things have historical significance, and we want to find the right place for them.”

Dexheimer says the money involved will go a long way in advancing the college’s scholarship program.

“Beyond the scholarships, it also displays the significance of City College as a local institution, based on the magnitude of this very generous donation,” Dexheimer said.

Anna Garcia, the chairperson for the San Diego City College Foundation, says the power and generosity of the gift will be lasting.

“There are certainly generous donors in the community…but nothing [before] compares to this,” Garcia said.