Photos by Igor Kraguljac
Editors Note: Due to the current situation regarding COVID-19, the Community Foundation’s Tribute Luncheon celebration of philanthropy has been postponed to Thursday, Aug. 27, at 11:30 am at the College Station Hilton.
Join the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley in celebrating the contributions of three generous citizens at the 16th annual Tribute Luncheon Celebration of Philanthropy on Tuesday, April 28, from 11:30am to 1pm at the College Station Hilton and Conference Center. The luncheon honors three community members who have gone above and beyond in their service and giving. This year, the honorees are Sue M. Lee, Denise Fries, and Timothy N. Bryan.
“This is an annual celebration of philanthropy that really lifts up and celebrates the good deeds of individuals who’ve shared their time, their talents, and their resources with our nonprofit community, all with the goal of ensuring a better quality of life,” says Patricia Gerling, president of the Community Foundation.
Honorees are picked by the Community Foundation Board of Trustees, with input from previous honorees. Lee, Fries, and Bryan will be celebrated at the luncheon with video vignettes produced by KBTX featuring interviews from community members speaking about their contributions and impact.
“It’s all in a very celebratory [feel] to celebrate their good deeds and good works,” says Gerling. “Many honorees find it difficult to accept being honored. They’re humble. They don’t do anything for recognition. An hour and a half is a short period of time for lunch and to celebrate: that’s why we do the videos. It’s a forever gift that they get to leave with. It’s a poignant celebration of a person’s impact on our community.”
The luncheon is celebratory, but it is also inspirational. While enjoying a meal and learning about the work the honorees have done, attendees will hopefully be inspired to be generous themselves as well, says Gerling.
“Giving begets giving,” says Gerling. “When one person gives, a friend or a neighbor or a colleague will say, ‘Oh my gosh, I didn’t know they did that. We need to get involved.’ It helps elevate that spirit of giving back. We’ve been blessed with such a wonderful quality of life, and we want to make sure the quality of life that we enjoy today is here for generations to come. It’s that giving-back spirit that the Tribute Luncheon celebrates.”
In addition to celebrating the three honorees, the Tribute Luncheon serves as a celebration of all the Community Foundation has accomplished in the last year and a fundraiser to cover operating expenses.
“We celebrate the impact of the Community Foundation and what we do here to help ensure a sustainable nonprofit community in various different ways,” explains Gerling. “We use it as an opportunity to create a keener awareness of the fact that the Foundation manages a $9.1 million portfolio that belongs to the community; we’re a steward of these community resources as a result of the generosity of many individuals who have made a gift to benefit something they’re very passionate about.”
The Community Foundation is a nonprofit that helps charitably minded individuals, businesses, and nonprofits establish donor-advised funds and charitable endowments that support quality-of-life needs in the community long term. They expanded their scope last year with the inaugural Brazos Valley Gives, 18 hours of online giving that raised more than $360,000 for 103 local nonprofits.
“The Community Foundation is a fabulous resource for the seven-county region of the Brazos Valley, whether that’s a resource for an individual to make a gift to benefit their favorite organization, for a business that wants to establish a fund to further their charitable giving, or for nonprofit organizations to establish an endowment to help sustain their future,” says Gerling. “It’s the best toolkit that a nonprofit can have, but we want to make sure that it’s not the best-kept secret in town.”
Reservations for the Tribute Luncheon are $60, available by visiting www.cfbv.org/Events/TributeLuncheon or by calling (979) 589-4305. Various levels of sponsorship are also available for businesses or couples, ranging from $350 to $2,500.
“The joy of living in this community is experienced threefold when you attend the Tribute Luncheon because it’s a celebration of philanthropy,” says Gerling. “We’re blessed to live in such a giving community, and you get to celebrate and thank people for their level of giving and the impact they’ve made through a particular gesture or by working with a nonprofit. We encourage people to come to celebrate the good works that are going on here in our community as personified by the good deeds and contributions of our three Tribute Luncheon honorees.”
HONOREES
Bios Courtesy of the Community Foundation
Denise Fries
Denise Fries lives a purposeful life — creating businesses from the ground-up and breaking barriers for women. Her personal devotion to charitable giving and fresh ideas for community impact are the reasons Denise Fries is a 2020 Community Foundation Tribute Luncheon honoree.
Fries graduated from Texas A&M University in 1984. By that time, she had already served two years in the JAG Corps of the U.S. Army Reserves where she was one of the first female members of the 420th Engineer Brigade.
After graduation, Fries searched for her first job in financial planning, but there wasn’t a company who would hire a female — so Fries started her own. She built a firm where people of all income levels have access to top-notch financial advice, strong customer service, and solid investing. Fries Financial Services is celebrating its 36th year, currently managing more than $285 million for its clients in 30 states. She has received three Bryan Rotary/Newman 10 awards and the Anco Lifetime Achievement Award.
Fries is known for celebrating milestones by creating matching grant events where charities are selected to carry out their own fundraisers and then the gifts are matched. For her 20th business anniversary, Fries offered $20,000 in matching grants to 17 charities. For her 25th business anniversary, Fries raised food, funds, and awareness for the Brazos Valley Food Bank and the Brazos Valley Gluten Intolerance Group. For her 50th birthday she gave $50,000 to 21 local charities. These matching gift programs have raised more than $1 million benefitting more than 60 local nonprofits.
Fries is the epitome of one who gives back to the community through time, talent, and resources. This spirit of community giving mirrors the mission of the Community Foundation of the Brazos Valley.
Fries is married to Milam County cattle rancher, Robert Jensen. Their daughter, Taylor, and son-in-law, Zach Johnson, live in College Station, with Fries’ first grandchild, Kyle Robert Johnson, and they are expecting a girl in August.
Sue Lee
Sue Lee is filled with passion for giving back to her community. She describes her own father as one who lived a life of giving — and Lee has carried on the family tradition with a commitment to thoughtful initiatives and a love for intentional philanthropy.
Born in a small town in Taiwan, Lee received a pharmacy degree from the prestigious National Taiwan University. Lee and her future husband, J.C. Lee, M.D., traveled to America for her pursuit of a master’s degree in biochemistry and his completion of an internship in pathology and a Ph.D. in genetics. In 1976, the two moved to Bryan College Station where Dr. J.C. Lee served as the chief pathologist for the two local hospitals for 23 years. Sue Lee worked as a registered medical technologist and lab director for multiple outpatient laboratories. The couple raised three children in this community — Alfred, Belinda, and Chris.
In 2002, Dr. J.C. Lee died from cancer, and Sue Lee recognized the need for a state-of-the-art cancer center for the Brazos Valley. Lee made the cornerstone donation to the St. Joseph Regional Cancer Center.
At the core of Sue Lee’s heart for giving are the initiatives that enhance and change people’s lives. Her philanthropy has brought life to the medical community and supported Habitat for Humanity. Lee has shared the valuable resource of her time with the Fun for All Playground, the Ronald McDonald House, Brazos Valley Bombers Booster Club, the Arts Council, Special Olympics, and the Brazos Valley Museum of Natural History, to name a few.
Lee’s passionate leadership earned her the D.A. “Andy” Anderson award from the Arts Council in 2013. Lee’s pursuit of community impact, charitable giving, and leadership has benefited numerous organizations and individuals across the Brazos Valley. The impact of Sue Lee makes the community a better place to live.
Timothy N. Bryan
Tim Bryan grew up in Bryan College Station and has invested in this namesake community through a love and passion for its rich history, the family business, and a commitment to service. His community roots are as deep as the Brazos River and his dedication to improving the Brazos Valley is even deeper. This dedication is what makes Bryan a Community Foundation Tribute Luncheon honoree.
Bryan graduated with a bachelor’s degree in finance from Texas A&M University in 1974.
He quickly entered the family business of banking, beginning his career in Houston. William Joel Bryan was Tim’s great-great-grandfather and Stephen F. Austin was William Joel’s uncle. William Joel Bryan was part of establishing the city’s first lending institution. William Joel Bryan’s son, Guy M. Bryan, Jr., co-founded Clarke, Bryan & Howell, a private lending enterprise, which became the region’s first chartered bank — The First National Bank of Bryan. The bank continued in the family with Tim named CEO in 2001. After First National sold in 2007, Bryan jumped back into leading a community bank with The Bank and Trust of Bryan/College Station. Currently, he serves as chairman of the B/CS Regional Board of First Financial Bank.
Over the years, Bryan has served on countless boards, including the Bryan Development Foundation, Boys and Girls Club, Brazos County United Way, Salvation Army, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Texas A&M Health Science Center Foundation, and he was a member of the original board of the Community Foundation.
Bryan’s commitment earned him the Man & Youth Award of the Year from the Boys and Girls Club and the Leadership Award from the Brazos Valley Economic Development Corporation. Bryan’s strategic leadership in community development and nonprofit support exemplifies service to others and makes the Brazos Valley a better place to live.
Bryan and his wife, Lee Ann, enjoy golf and traveling together. He has two daughters, Emily Bullion and Beth Landgraf, of Magnolia and The Woodlands, and six grandchildren.
