Without Fanfare, Donor Leaves Lasting Impact
“Quiet lives can sometimes leave the loudest echoes.”
-Sharon McMahon, The Small and the Mighty
There was nothing quiet about Mary Buckmiller’s life. She lived her 76 years with an adventurous and creative spirit and sense of humor, accumulating friends in an easy manner and playing the part of the “cool aunt.”
Her philanthropy, however, was both quiet and eternally impactful.
Mary insisted on remaining anonymous when she worked through her estate plan. In her document, she expressed no interest in public recognition. When the idea was brought up in the final days of her life in hospice care at Ava’s House at Sanford Health, she remained content without any notoriety.
At that same time, she donated her final painting to benefit a fundraising campaign for Ava’s House – from her bed in hospice.
Mary passed away shortly before Thanksgiving in 2023. “…Breathless in our loss of her presence here on Earth, but, oh boy, look out, heaven!” a friend wrote in a tribute to Mary. “She’s a force to be reckoned with.”
It was a life defined by hard work – in roles at her alma mater and private business – and pursuits that ranged from marksmanship in college to graphic design, poetry, and art to managing a 170-cow family livestock operation. She was committed to community service as a 4-H leader, as well as volunteering time at the library and elementary school in Estelline, SD.
As an undergraduate, her time on the SDSU Rifle and Pistol Team was clearly a memory that stayed with her. Newspaper clippings of the team posing with trophies won were tucked away in her files.
When Mary’s husband, Fred Schmer, passed away in 2013, she decided to become certified in Emergency Medical Services, answering a dire need for volunteers that existed in her town. Her decision was shaped by EMT services she accessed to care for her husband in the latter stages of his life.
At the same time, she began the process of establishing her will.
Mary earned a degree in art education and graphic design, going on to work in agricultural communication. Fred received his master’s in agricultural engineering in 1963, eventually leading to a decade-long role as an associate professor at SDSU before devoting his full time to a cattle and farming operation in Estelline, starting in 1983.
SDSU was weaved into their lives.
The ultimate gift directed to SDSU by Mary from the assets that she and Fred has amassed will be among the 40 largest ever received by SDSU when fully realized.
Her philanthropy was quiet, yet intentional.
Each area she chose to impact reflected an area with deep meaning to one or both of them.
The estate includes the largest gift ever designated for English, a nod to her love of poetry and the written word.
Mary was a master gardener. Out of her love for that, she created an endowment to support educational programs for children with an emphasis on family and backyard gardening at McCrory Gardens.
Fred’s work as an associate professor inspired the creation of an endowment to fund graduate research and both graduate and undergraduate scholarships in agricultural and biosystems engineering. An identically-sized endowment will do the same in animal science.
Her love of art and painting will help create an endowed position within the School of Design.
“You’re never lonely as long as you’re curious and creative,” says a quote that family attribute to Mary. “You just have to make sure you don’t become a hermit.”
Mary's zest for life made an impression on those she knew. The quiet nature of her philanthropy will echo loudly forever at SDSU.
