Harry Egdahl

Bernadette (Walsh) Byrne

The UW-Eau Claire Foundation has received gifts from the estates of a former Eau Claire dentist and a UW-Eau Claire alumna, each of whom lived more than 100 years.

Both gifts are recognized as contributions to UW-Eau Claire’s ongoing comprehensive fund-raising campaign, Fulfilling the Promise of Excellence.

Harry Egdahl, who died Feb. 8 at the age of 107, left $25,000 to the Foundation to establish the Cassandra Ball Egdahl Scholarship for exceptional music students in memory of his first wife. Harry Egdahl practiced dentistry in Eau Claire for more than 70 years and retired when he was 97.

He married schoolteacher Rebecca Cassandra Ball sometime after she arrived in Eau Claire in 1921. “Cass” Egdahl “was a wonderful woman, and my father’s gift to UW-Eau Claire in her name would have pleased her,” the couple’s son, Richard H. Egdahl, wrote in a letter to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation.

Richard Egdahl wrote that his mother, who died in 1957, “had a special interest and talent in music,” noting that she attended many Minneapolis Symphony concerts and was “an inveterate listener to the Saturday afternoon performances of the Metropolitan Opera.”

The gift from Harry Egdahl’s estate came as a surprise, said Kimera Way, UW-Eau Claire executive director of development.

“Our only regret is that we never had the chance to thank Mr. Egdahl personally for this generous gift in support of the university,” Way said.

Bernadette (Walsh) Byrne, a member of the first class to enter UW-Eau Claire (then the Eau Claire State Normal School) in 1916, also left a gift from her estate to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation. Byrne, who died March 7 at the age of 104, left approximately $20,000 to be used for faculty development at UW-Eau Claire.

After earning her teaching certificate from UW-Eau Claire, Byrne received a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison and taught in high schools in Pittsville, Spring Valley and Chilton. Following her teaching career, she worked in the state department of banking until her retirement.

Byrne had notified the UW-Eau Claire Foundation about the provision in her will for the university, and she was a member of the Council Oak Society, which recognizes those who have confirmed planned or deferred gifts to the Foundation.

“It’s touching that UW-Eau Claire held a special place in Bernadette’s heart for so many years,” Way said. “We’re honored and most grateful to receive this gift from an alumna who was part of the university’s very first class.”