NORFOLK, Va. – A good obituary not only sums up a lifetime of accomplishments, it also provides a sense of what kind person he or she was.
Anne Donovan's obituary, of course, highlighted her many achievements. At 6-foot-8, she was a giant in the game of women's basketball. She helped lead Old Dominion to the 1980 national championship and two more Final Fours.
She set national records and won three Olympic Gold medals – two as a player and one as a head coach – and also won a WNBA championship as a coach. She was in the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.
Sadly, she died far too young in 2018. She was just 56 years old.
Wally and Linda Haislip already knew about her accomplishments, but when they read the obit, they got a sense of who Anne Donovan really was.
"What you learn from reading the obituary," Wally Haislip said, "is that Anne Donovan was a better person than she was a basketball player."
The long-time ODU donors decided they wanted to do something to honor ODU's "Gentle Giant," as she was known because of her kindness and grace off the court.
After consulting with Jena Virga, executive director of the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation, they decided to donate $350,000 to permanently endow a scholarship in Anne Donovan's name.
The scholarship will officially be announced tonight when ODU hosts Temple in the annual Anne Donovan Classic at 6:30 at Chartway Arena.
More than a dozen of Donovan's family members will be in Norfolk for tonight's game. Although the Haislips are days away from embarking on an around-the-world cruise, they traveled from Atlanta to Norfolk Tuesday night to be there.
"We can't wait to meet her family," Wally said. "We would not miss this for the world."
In many ways, the Haislips are living examples of what ODU does best.
ODU is among the nation's leaders in enrolling and then graduating first-generation students, or those from families with no college graduates. And both Wally and Linda were first-gen students.
Wally was raised in Virginia Beach's Aragona-Pembroke neighborhood and Linda in Norfolk's Bayview neighborhood. Both were working-class areas with modest homes where families often struggled to make ends meet.
"I grew up with parents who did not go to college," said Linda, who matriculated to ODU from Granby High. "My father did not finish high school.
"I remember my mom telling me that she wanted to go to college. But it was during the Depression. My grandfather wouldn't let her go. He sent her to secretarial school.
"My mom knew you needed to go to college, that college helps you learn about the world, the kinds of jobs you can have, the many things you can do and all of the things you don't know about when you're a child from limited means."
Wally said his parents likely were poorer than Linda's.
"I was sitting as a student at the graduation at Princess Anne High School," he said.
"I was an honor student. And I didn't know if I was going to go to college."
Luckily, he was awarded an $800 scholarship, which in 1967 paid two years of tuition at ODU. He worked at the post office to pay his tuition his junior year and as a senior, went to school tuition free because he was the senior class president.
Wally and Linda met while at ODU and when they departed after graduating in 1971, made great use of the education they acquired.
Linda was a long-time Spanish teacher in Fulton County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located.
Wally also taught briefly before making his mark in the private sector. He was the CFO and Vice President of Operations for Scientific Atlanta for nearly two decades. The company produces cable TV and broadband equipment.
The Haislips have shared millions of dollars of the wealth they accumulated with ODU.
The Haislip-Rorrer scholarship fund – Rorrer was Linda's maiden name – was established in the early 1990s and provides full tuition scholarships yearly for seven or eight first-gen students.
"That was the first investment we made at ODU," Wally said. "Those scholarships go to people who would otherwise not be able to attend Old Dominion."
They financially support a business professor and fund a program that allows ODU business students to take a course where they manage a true stock portfolio.
"We do give a lot to Old Dominion," Wally said. "But we will spend the rest of our lives paying back that $800.
"We decided early on that the education we received at Old Dominion is responsible for any economic benefits we attained in life."
Eventually, they began to donate to athletics. Two years ago, they endowed a scholarship named for Nancy Lieberman, the former ODU All-American who was Donovan's teammate on that 1980 national championship team.
They have endowed a men's basketball scholarship and also donated to the Sonny Allen endowed scholarship, named for the late men's basketball coach.
They chose women's basketball as the sport they would most generously support. They recently donated $100,000 to a student enhancement fund for women's basketball.
Although they donate primarily to ODU, they've been generous elsewhere. They are benefactors of Ghent United Methodist Church in downtown Norfolk, where Linda attended while growing up in Norfolk and where they were married.
They also donated $100,000 to help Lieberman build the first of three Dream Courts in Hampton Roads. Nancy Lieberman Charities recently opened the third Dream Court In Norfolk's East Ocean View, one of 116 outdoor courts the group has constructed nationwide in neighborhoods populated by at-risk children.
Virga teared up when talking about the generosity the Haislips have shown.
"They are the most humble, giving, heartfelt people I have ever met," she said. "They only want to help. They don't ask for anything. They don't seek out publicity.
"They are just very compassionate people who want to help people have better lives."
They have established a close friendship with ODU women's basketball coach DeLisha Milton-Jones, whom they accompanied this past summer when she was inducted in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Milton-Jones played for Donovan when she coached the Olympic team. She was thrilled when she learned the Haislips would endow a scholarship in Donovan's name.
"She's been loved by so many people all over the world," Milton-Jones said of Donovan. "She was feared by so many opponents.
"But those who knew her loved her and adored her.
"Anne did tremendous things for this university. She bled blue, Hudson blue and was a giant in the game of women's basketball.
"I'm glad we're honoring her and bringing her family here to let them know that we loved Anne and love them and that her legacy will always continue at ODU."
Contact Minium at hminium@odu.edu Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram
Minium: Wally and Linda Haislip Have Endowed a Women's Basketball Scholarship Honoring Anne Donovan
