DeWitt and Margaret Waltmon

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Fan of All Things “UT”

In education, philanthropy, it’s a family affair

Even as he reveled in the freedom of growing up in a small town, even as he hopped on his bicycle and pedaled to school or played hide-and-seek in his big back yard, DeWitt Waltmon, Sr. knew he was destined for a life away from the comforts of his childhood home. “As a kid, you couldn’t beat growing up in Hearne, Texas” says DeWitt. Still, he never doubted that he would someday attend The University of Texas at Austin. “And there was no question that my children would go there, too,” says DeWitt, class of 1949.

Indeed, UT Austin has been a de facto second home for the Waltmon family. DeWitt’s step-father, Dr. Adolph Benjamin Swanson, was a foreign language professor at the university for more than three decades. DeWitt’s wife, Margaret, graduated from UT Austin in 1953 and his sons, DeWitt, Jr. and Scott, graduated in 1976 and 1983, respectively. “Now, my grandchildren attend the university,” DeWitt says. “So, anytime there is a university gathering our family is well represented.”

The Waltmon clan gathers together every Christmas and Easter. Last December, the entire family sat for the family photo, which includes no fewer than 12 UT Austin alums. In addition to DeWitt, his wife is a UT Austin grad, as are two sons, one daughter, two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, two granddaughters and three grandsons.

 

The family is well represented when it comes to philanthropy, too. DeWitt and Margaret have contributed funds to help establish several endowments for UT Austin, as well as for the UT Medical Branch at Galveston. Then, in 1985, DeWitt made his first gift to the UT System and has given virtually every year since then.

His generosity did not go unrewarded. “When I first started supporting the UT System, they would send a gold coin each time I made a financial contribution,” he recalls.  He collected those coins until he had “a pretty good stack of them.” Coins aside, DeWitt’s main motivation for giving is the opportunity to contribute to growth in the state, especially within the medical community.

After 26 years of cumulative giving, DeWitt is impressed by the breadth of the UT System. “The UT System is everywhere”—whether it’s El Paso or Tyler, Brownsville or Dallas. He was especially pleased with the establishment of new medical schools in the Rio Grande Valley and at UT Austin, and he is impressed with how the UT System’s existing medical schools continue to remain competitive and relevant in the ever-evolving medical arena.

DeWitt says he will continue to be a fan of all things related to the institutions that make up the vast university system. “If the first two letters of any school start with ‘UT,’ it’s my favorite school.”