“The Finest Education”

Bob ’54 and Terry Lenhard

Terry and the late Bob Lenhard ’54 had been “all in, hands on” supporters of U of D Jesuit for more than 55 years. The Lenhard family’s appreciation of The High started when Bob’s late father, Otto “Oddie” Lenhard, enrolled in 1918. Although he was not able to graduate, the time he spent here gave him an appreciation of a Jesuit education and the values instilled in the students.

The values such as integrity, honor, hard work and honesty were lessons Bob learned from the Jesuits and his teachers. He and Terry taught those values to their children, Craig ’84, Tim ’85 and Kristen, and have watched them pass those same values to their children.

The entire Lenhard family is dedicated to U of D Jesuit. Six of their 14 grandchildren have graduated from or are attending The High with a few more planning to attend in the upcoming years. Terry is looking forward to walking her youngest grandson to the front door on his first day in a few years.

Terry and Bob participated in countless alumni and parent events as well. They attended and volunteered at the Scholarship Auction, chaired alumni events, hosted parties and attended reunions. In addition, they were number one fans at Cub home and away basketball games for many seasons, especially cheering for Cassius Winston. They attended nearly all of their grandchildren’s activities including hockey, football and lacrosse games.

Terry attended the Mothers’ Club graduation luncheon where some moms were talking about what they were giving their children for graduation presents. One mom said a car, another said a trip and third said a computer. When it was Terry’s turn she simply stated, We gave our sons a U of D Jesuit education. That is the best gift ever!”

Sadly, Bob passed away on March 19, 2020, but Terry and the family continue to support the school. Long before he became ill, they pledged a gift from their estate. Terry is looking forward to deciding how best to designate that gift.

When asked why they decided to give to U of D Jesuit, Terry said, “It provided the finest education and experience to my husband, sons and now grandsons. We must give so that the school will be around forever!”

We are grateful to the Lenhards in providing a legacy gift to U of D Jesuit. If you would like to talk about creating your own legacy gift, please contact Jenny Miller P'20, P'22 at 313-927-2335 or jennifer.miller@uofdjesuit.org.