Lifelong county resident celebrates 90th birthday with $100K donation
Marilyn Hilliard will have quite a “tail” to tell for her 90th birthday.
Hilliard, a lifelong Butler County resident who continues to singlehandedly maintain her Butler Township house and property, has no descendants and only one brother.
So, she decided to donate $100,000 to the Butler County Humane Society.On Oct. 22, her 90th birthday, the spry former athlete will attend a party at the Humane Society where ground will be broken for a “catio.”The 20-by-28-foot addition with an enclosed patio feel and lots of windows will provide an outdoor-like experience for the society's many shelter cats.The catio also will provide a space for guests and potential cat adopters to meet and socialize with available felines.Michelle Edinger, director of development at the Humane Society, said Hilliard originally planned to make the gift in her will.She said the Humane Society receives bequests from wills once or twice per year.“She'll see her gift in action,” Edinger said of Hilliard's donation. “That's the cool part.”She said it costs about $70,000 per month to operate the humane society, which is off Evans City Road in Connoquenessing Township, and that any and all donations are appreciated.“We are just overwhelmed by her generosity and we look forward to her kindness making a difference to the shelter cats forever,” Edinger said.Hilliard, a lifelong animal lover and the owner of felines by the names of Buddy and Buddy Boy, said she had been thinking about her final wishes as her 90th birthday approached.“I could have bought a new car, but my '02 car is in A-1 shape, so I said to myself, 'I don't need a new car and I love animals,'” Hilliard said.She gave the Humane Society two $50,000 donations over the summer to fund the catio.“At my age, what do I need?” Hilliard said.When the soon-to-be nonagenarian received her federal stimulus check, she immediately thought of her favorite three charities: veterans, the poor and animals.“I gave each one of them $500,” she said.Hilliard has lived an interesting life since growing up in the Meridian area of Butler Township and graduating from Butler High School in 1950.Right after high school, she joined the U.S. Army. Hilliard worked in finance, first at the Pentagon and then in Germany.“My niche is figures,” she said.Hilliard, who always was a tomboy and natural athlete, played softball and basketball at Butler High School and continued playing sports during her five years in the Army.“At school, there was a rope hanging from the ceiling and none of the girls could climb it, but this lady did,” Hilliard said.She graduated with a teaching degree after just three years at Slippery Rock State College and taught fourth grade at Oakland Elementary School before earning a master's degree as a reading specialist and accepting a position in the Karns City School District.She retired from teaching and joined the Senior Olympics, where she would earn more than 60 national medals in horseshoes and other sports.“I'm self-taught on how to get the ringer,” Hilliard said of her repeated success in throwing horseshoes. “Nobody could touch me.”She bought a new bicycle at age 70 to compete in Senior Olympics races.“I don't compete in anything I don't train in,” Hilliard said. “Even the ladies in their 50s couldn't beat me.”She is also an accomplished oil painter.These days, she is content to stay around Butler, work in the yard and fuss over Buddy and Buddy Boy.Hilliard was glad to donate the $100,000 to the Humane Society, and pleased that she will attend the catio groundbreaking on her birthday.“Those animals out there are homeless and likely were mistreated,” Hilliard said.Edinger also looks forward to Hilliard's special day on Oct. 22.“We are so looking forward to recognizing her and making her feel valued and appreciated,” she said.
