Helen Wienke Mault Blends Lifetime and Legacy Gifts to Support WP Students and Create an Endowed Scholarship

Helen Wienke Mault ’59, MA ’61 grew up near Paterson’s School 24, the original home of WP. Her father valued education and insisted his two daughters attend college. Paterson State was within walking distance from her home, and Helen could walk to school. As a first-generation college student, Helen says she valued most “a great education from a mostly commuter school and the friendships I made and still have today.”

A longtime member of the Heritage Society, with 45 years of giving, Helen is also a member of the Hobart Society. To ensure her support for future students, she has named WP as beneficiary of several IRAs—which will be designated to establish the Helen Wienke Mault Endowed Scholarship. “It was important to me to leave a legacy at my alma mater in my name,” she says.

As a student, Helen was a delegate to the National Athletic Federation of College Women Conference and the New Jersey Athletic Federation of College Women, was on the Pioneer yearbook staff, and was a member of the Kappa Delta Phi sorority. She remained connected to WP by serving six years as president of the Alumni Association. Helen served on the Board of Directors of the North Jersey Federal Credit Union for 57½ years.

“I was fortunate to receive a state scholarship that paid my tuition for all four years I was a student,” Helen says. “Therefore, I always wanted to give back. My father taught my sister, also an alumna, and me to pay it forward and give back. This gift leaves my legacy at WP and will hopefully inspire others to leave their legacy in a similar way.”

Helen hopes others will join her in making a planned gift to support future generations. “My hope is that some deserving student who has financial need and who wouldn’t have been able to attend college will be able to pursue a good education,” she concludes. “This is in a way my dad’s legacy too. Education was his top priority, and he wanted to know his girls could support themselves.”