MEDIA CONTACT: KAYE
COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 561-392-5166
“GIVE
WHILE YOU LIVE, SO YOU KNOW WHERE IT GOES.”
“I’M AN
AMERICAN BY CHOICE.”
“GIVING
STARTS AT HOME AND BOCA RATON IS MY HOME.”
--Henrietta, Countess de Hoernle
ON HER
100th BIRTHDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2012
THE COMMUNITY WILL CELEBRATE
THE SELFLESS AND INSPIRING PHILANTHROPY OF
THE COMMUNITY WILL CELEBRATE
THE SELFLESS AND INSPIRING PHILANTHROPY OF
HENRIETTA, THE COUNTESS DE HOERNLE,
“OUR LEGEND, HER LEGACY”
Festivities
Include the “Royal Treatment”
with Black or White Tie Formal, Military or Scottish Equivalent,
Tiaras, Regalia, and Decorations at Benefit Gala,
and a “Red, White and Boca-Blue” Countess Appreciation Day
Planned to Shower Her with Record-Breaking “Community Wishes”
with Black or White Tie Formal, Military or Scottish Equivalent,
Tiaras, Regalia, and Decorations at Benefit Gala,
and a “Red, White and Boca-Blue” Countess Appreciation Day
Planned to Shower Her with Record-Breaking “Community Wishes”
BOCA RATON, FL (July 3, 2012)--To celebrate Henrietta, Countess de
Hoernle’s immense, selfless contributions to the community, the Order of St.
John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller Commandery of Florida invites the
community-at-large to join together in honoring The Countess in several ways on
her 100th Birthday, Monday, September 24, 2012.
Festivities include a formal gala celebration presented by the Order of St.
John to benefit local charities, a communitywide “Red, White & Boca-Blue”
Countess Appreciation Day and the presentation of what is planned to be a
record-breaking birthday card.
Managing her charitable work from her home since 1981 without any
staff, the Countess de Hoernle has selflessly given away more than $40 million
of her personal funds to local Boca Raton charities while serving on 16 boards
of directors each year, for more than 30 different charities in her
lifetime. Serving as an indelible and inspiring role model of
philanthropy with wisdom and grace, there are more than 40 buildings named in
her honor in Boca Raton alone, out of the more than 50 in total throughout Palm
Beach County and New York.
To celebrate in royal style at the “Our Legend, Her Legacy”
themed benefit gala that begins with cocktails at 6:00 p.m. at Boca West Country
Club, more than 700 dignitaries and community, business, and nonprofit leaders
will don black or white tie, military or Scottish equivalent, tiaras, regalia,
and decorations for dinner, dancing, and reminiscing, a video retrospective and
presentation of a gigantic birthday card signed by thousands from the community
she has long supported.
Presented by the Order of St. John, Chaired Dame Isabelle K. Paul
DCGSJ and Vice-Chair Dame Alyce E. Erickson DSJ with Honorary Chairs Christine
Lynn and Barbara and Dick Schmidt, the event is being held as a benefit to
fulfill the Countess’s 100th birthday wish of raising
significant funds to benefit Boca Raton area nonprofits. Sponsorships at
various levels, commemorative journal tribute ads and birthday greetings,
tables of 10 and individual seats at $375 per person are available at www.countess100.org.
According to Dames Paul and Erickson, the gala’s program journal will be sent
to the Library of Congress, and the Florida State and Boca Raton Historical
Societies for inclusion in their historic archives.
Throughout the day on her birthday September 24th, the community
is encouraged to pay visual tribute to the Countess for her patriotism for the
United States, her “country by choice”, by wearing red, white, and blue and
wrapping trees with red, white, and blue ribbons. In preparation for the
gala event, the public-at-large is invited and encouraged to come out this
summer to sign birthday card panels (available from mid-July to
early-September) that will be on display at convenient locations throughout the
community. The panels will then be merged as one card for its debut at the gala
event celebration. Details will soon be announced about where and how
residents, nonprofits, schools, companies, and City and County officials and
staff can participate in what is expected to be a heart-warming,
record-breaking initiative.
“The Countess is an expert at ‘drive-by’ giving,” added Gregory W.
Schultz of Wellington, a long-time member of The Order of St. John. “She looks
to see where the need is, and armed only with her pen and notebook, with no
secretary or entourage, she—and she alone—decides what to give, how much, to
whom and how, often hand-delivering her gift within hours of first learning
about those who need it the most.”
Born Henrietta Rach in Karlsruhe, Germany on September 24, 1912,
she immigrated to the U.S. at age 18 aboard the S.S. Pennland in 1931 to live
with her grandparents in Jackson Heights in Queens, NY and became an “American
by choice”. After being twice widowed (her second husband Jeff Gass
served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was later put in charge of all
the documents for the Nuremburg trials), she married engineer and entrepreneur
Adolph, Count de Hoernle (who immigrated to the U.S. in 1926) in 1950 and whose
family fortune was created as owner of the Stewart Stamping Corp., Bronxville,
NY, a manufacturer of stamped metal products. She has two daughters and
nine grandchildren.
While living in Bronxville, NY, the Countess began volunteering at
Lawrence Hospital’s thrift shop. While there, she noticed many plaques in
the hospital stating "This room is donated by ... ". Inspired
by the generosity of others, the Countess encouraged her husband to do the
same. At the same time, the Countess also volunteered for local Meals On
Wheels programs. Together, the Count and Countess soon began to provide
music scholarships to singers through the Liederkranz Club, a Manhattan social
club founded by German-Americans to promote social and instrumental music.
Among the first scholarship recipients was opera star Gene Boucher.
Following the sale of Stewart Stamping in New York in 1965 and
considerable world travel (including 20 world cruises) and many visits to the
area, the couple retired to Boca Raton in 1981—convinced that Boca Raton was,
indeed, the “Jewel of The Gold Coast”. Renewed commitment to her
charitable work became their “new” life in Florida.
“Time, talent and treasure” became her by-words as service on
institutional and organizational boards, community involvement, leadership in
philanthropic efforts and her commitment to the region became paramount.
Boca Raton Community Hospital received the de Hoernle’s first “Sunshine State”
gift, and it hardly was their last. Other health organizations,
educational facilities, scholarships, cultural programs, community singing and
theater groups, abused women and children, students, veterans,
first-responders, the elderly and, in particular, the desperately needy, sick
and poor have all benefited from the remarkable spirit of kindness and giving
that rules the life and daily work of the Countess de Hoernle, our
legend as she inspires the community with her legacy.
The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller, under
Royal Charter and Constitution granted by His Late Majesty King Peter II of
Yugoslavia, is one of the oldest orders of chivalry in existence and has raised
funds to benefit the sick and the poor of the world since 1048 A.D. The
Countess is its patroness and holder of the Order’s Grand Cross of Justice and
Medal of Merit. The gala on the occasion of her 100th birthday
is organized by the OSJ Commandery of Florida, a not-for-profit charitable 501(c)(3),
tax-exempt organization. Countess de Hoernle’s regalia, degrees, awards,
plaques, shields and commemorative photographs are currently on permanent
display curated by the Boca Raton Historical Society at the Spanish River
Library in Boca Raton.
To learn more about the Countess, the gala, sponsorships, and
tickets, as well as updates and how to participate in the “Red, White &
Boca-Blue Countess Appreciation Day” festivities, visit www.countess100.org; “Friend” and “Like” Countess on Facebook (www.facebook.com/countess100), or call Gala Chair Isabelle K. Paul (561) 391-3424.
#####
Photo Cutlines: (other photos available upon request)
From top to bottom--
- Henrietta, Countess de Hoernle GCSJ, MMSJ
- From left: Honorary Chairs Christine Lynn, Dick Schmidt, Barbara Schmidt
- From left: Gala Chair Commander Isabelle K. Paul DCGSI and Gala Vice-Chair Dame Alyce E. Erickson DSJ with (seated) Henrietta, Countess de Hoernle GCSJ, MMSJ
