[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 18]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 24420-24421]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       HONORING THE LIFE OF DARWIN WIEKAMP OF MISHAWAKA, INDIANA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JOE DONNELLY

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 20, 2008

  Mr. DONNELLY. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor the life of Darwin 
Wiekamp, a hard-working businessman and lifelong community 
philanthropist. Mr. Wiekamp died at his home in Mishawaka, Indiana on 
the morning of November 13, 2008 at the age of 94.
  In 1936, 22-year old Wiekamp married his wife of 72 years, Dorothy. 
His business career as an area banker began a few years later in 1945, 
when he and a friend founded the Owners Discount Corporation in 
Elkhart, Indiana with a vision to serve customers who were ignored by 
other banks. Their corporation specialized in small loans for cars and 
new businesses.
  For the next several years, Wiekamp implemented aggressive lending 
programs to his less fortunate community members, and in 1966 Owners 
Discount purchased West End State Bank of Mishawaka. Wiekamp's bank 
continued to grow enormously, changing names several times, until it 
finally became National City Bank. By the time Wiekamp retired, his 
initial $64,000 capital had turned into a financial corporation that 
today is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. His ceaseless hard 
work, willingness to take risks, and dedication to serving his 
community are qualities that every businessman should strive to 
emulate.
  As a philanthropist in our community, Wiekamp led campaigns to raise 
money for public television, St. Joseph Hospital, and the South Bend 
Center for the Homeless. His financial generosity also helped support 
healthcare and the arts in the form of the Schwartz-Weikamp Clinic in 
Mishawaka and an auditorium at the Center for History. With the help of 
nine other community businessmen, Wiekamp also organized and founded 
Mishawaka Futures Industrial Park, which today is home to twenty small 
businesses and hundreds of jobs.
  Friends and fellow businessmen remember Wiekamp as ``enormously 
generous in the community,'' ``a great guy with a good sense of 
humor,'' and a ``tough competitor and good golfer.'' But what Wiekamp 
will be most remembered for is his commitment to educational causes and 
community development. He and Dorothy helped fund Wiekamp Hall at 
Indiana University South Bend, the primary classroom building on 
campus, housing five computer labs, a language lab, sixteen classrooms, 
faculty and administrative offices, and

[[Page 24421]]

a 150-seat lecture hall. They also helped finance the IUSB art gallery 
and more than thirty scholarships for students at the school. Their 
most recent contribution totaled $1.3 million toward the Wiekamp 
Athletic Facility at Bethel College.
  Throughout his life, Wiekamp received many distinguished awards to 
recognize his accomplishments. These included the Individual 
Philanthropist Award from the Michiana Chapter of Associations of 
Fundraising and the Herman B. Wells Visionary Award from Indiana 
University and the Indiana University Foundation, both of which honor 
people for their professional accomplishments and service to humanity. 
He and his wife also received Indiana University South Bend's 
Chancellor's Medal in 2005. Wiekamp served on the boards of the Century 
Center Foundation, Center for the Homeless, Project Future, the 
Community Foundation of St. Joseph County, the Mishawaka Division of 
the Salvation Army, St. Mary's College, and the IUSB advisory. He also 
served as president of the South Bend-Mishawaka Area Chamber of 
Commerce.
  So, today I rise to pay tribute to Dar Wiekamp for his innumerable 
contributions to our community's development. His and Dorothy's 
generosity is admirable and they will serve as models of lives well-
lived.

                          ____________________