Hess, Stamp To Join Wheeling Hall Of Fame | News, Sports, Jobs

WHEELING – Two women with a long and storied history of giving back to the community will join other notable names this June in the Wheeling Hall of Fame.

Mary Ann Hess and Joan Corson Stamp both will be inducted the Philanthropy category, two of 11 inductees honored that night. Those inductions will take place at a ceremony scheduled for Saturday, June 10, at WesBanco Arena. The event is open to the public and will begin at 6 p.m. A catered dinner is included. Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online at WesbancoArena.com, or by calling the box office at 304-233-7000, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Mary Ann Hess

Hess, the daughter of Andrew Christian Hess and Margaret Blackford Hess, was born in Wheeling on May 24, 1930. She was a graduate of the Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy in Wheeling and following graduation attended the Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio.

Raising her family of six children kept Mary Ann quite busy, but she still found time to be an active volunteer at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Center Wheeling and be part of an active circle of tennis friends who played at Oglebay Park tennis courts.

Within the Wheeling community Mary Ann was an active member of the Junior League of Wheeling, League of Women Voters, Friends of Wheeling, the Herb Society of Wheeling, and the Meals on Wheels program. Following her passing on August 5, 2002, as a tribute to her love for Wheeling and the people of the Ohio Valley, her children created the Hess Family Foundation with special emphasis on philanthropy, charity, and voluntarism.

In the years of philanthropic giving the number of organizations and individuals benefiting from the Hess Family Foundation are almost too numerous to mention; however, Oglebay Park has been a special beneficiary, reflecting Hess’ love for the park. The Mary Ann Hess cottage, improvements to the Oglebay stables, hiking trail improvements, aerial challenger course, Camp Russell renovations, and improvements and expansion of racquet sports facilities are just a few of the improvements made possible through the Hess Family Foundation.

One of the most significant grants in health care is Liza’s Place at Valley Hospice, which is named for Mary Ann’s daughter, Elizabeth “Liza” Hess-Gebhard, and Project Hope of the Wheeling Ohio County Heath Department which ensures access to medical care for unsheltered men, women, and children through direct street outreach.

In the area of education are grants to Hess Mentoring Program at Wheeling University, West Virginia Independent Colleges & Universities Circle of Vision, West Virginia Northern Community College for trade program development, tuition assistance at West Liberty University, and support for Wheeling Country Day School.

Concerning social services are grants to Youth Services Systems in support of the Wheeling Sleepout program to promote awareness of the homeless, the Lazarus House for addiction recovery and transition to recovery, House of Hagar offering hospitality and a temporary home for people living on society’s fringes, and NAMI of Greater Wheeling Drop-In Center for people and families dealing with mental health conditions.

In support of quality of life are grants to Catholic Charities to promote their urban gardens program through Grow Ohio Valley and the East Wheeling Neighborhood Center, Friends of Wheeling Preservation Loan Guarantee Program for renovation and restoration of historically significant properties, the Oglebay Foundation, Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, Oglebay Institute Friends of the Towngate Theatre, Wheeling Symphony Orchestra, and the Children’s Museum of the Upper Ohio Valley.

Joan Corson Stamp

Stamp is the daughter of Dr. Louis D. Corson and Joan Stifel Corson, and the granddaughter of Arthur C. and Adelaide Flaccus Stifel. After graduating from West Virginia University with a bachelor of science degree in Marketing in 1973, Joan returned to Wheeling where she immediately took an interest in serving the community, including as a member of the board of trustees of Oglebay Institute, where she played an increasingly important role in turning a Stifel family home into a prominent community arts center.

Joan married Judge Frederick P. Stamp Jr. (himself a member of the Wheeling Hall of Fame in the category of Public Service) in 1975. The Stamps are parents of two children.

From an early age Stamp saw philanthropy modeled by her parents and grandparents who instilled in her a dedication to supporting education, culture, and the arts in Wheeling. She continued her family’s legacy by assuming prominent roles with the George E. Stifel Prize Fund and the Stifel College Scholarship Fund, which have helped local students pursue higher education for 87 and 72 years, respectively.

Stamp has actively supported her alma mater, West Virginia University, serving on the WVU Foundation Board of Directors for more than 17 years and raising funds for the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center and for the Rosenbaum Family House, both of which have come to fruition because of her tireless work. She also was instrumental in raising funds for the West Virginia University Art Museum and new WVU Marching Band uniforms. To honor her father, who wrote the Alma Mater, she donated the Dr. Louis D. Corson Alma Mater Room at the WVU Alumni Center. In 2013 she was inducted into the Order of Vandalia, West Virginia University’s highest honor for outstanding service and loyalty.

Stamp is a longtime patron of the arts and has served on the board of directors of the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation and the League of American Orchestras and was a national trustee of the National Symphony Orchestra. She served on the West Virginia Arts Commission and the Wheeling Arts Commission. She became a life member of the Wheeling Symphony Society after serving on the board for 18 years, including a term as president, and chaired the search committee for the new conductor.

She is vice chair of the Wheeling Park Commission and a past chair of the Oglebay Foundation. She has been instrumental in updating and enhancing the city’s parks, following the footsteps of her grandfather, Arthur C. Stifel, who was a founding Park Commissioner. Stamp funded the Joan Stifel Corson Butterfly Garden at the Schrader Nature Center at Oglebay Park in memory of her mother.

As a member of the board of directors of the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley, Stamp was a founder of the Women’s Giving Circle (with Hall of Fame member Sue Seibert Farnsworth) which to date has raised an endowment of more than $400,000 and has given away $450,000 to nonprofit organizations and projects that help women and girls in the Ohio Valley reach their goals.

Stamp is the fourth member from the extended Stifel family in the area of philanthropy to join current members: George E. Stifel, Henry Stifel Schrader, and Elizabeth Stifel Kline.