EVERETT — John Schack, one of the most generous donors to civic causes in the history of Everett, died Sunday. He was 95.
Schack’s legacy is on display throughout the city, from the building that will soon house the Children’s Museum in Snohomish County, to the Espresso Americano cafe at the Everett Public Library, to the Historic Everett Theatre.
"John and Idamae Schack are the reason the Historic Everett Theatre is still here," said Dan Gunderson, chairman of the board of the Everett Theatre Society, which owns and operates the theater. "They saw a 100-year-old building that was part of our history, and they saw an opportunity to bring it back to life."
The Everett Symphony Orchestra — which received $1 million in 1999 — and Providence Everett Medical Center were among the other charities to which Schack contributed. Many of the Schacks’ donations were anonymous, and the extent of their generosity may never be known completely.
"He just didn’t have a need to beat his own drum," said Mark Nesse, director of the Everett Public Library and a longtime friend of the Schacks.
The Schacks’ contributions to the library began almost a quarter-century ago, when they gave $75,000 for the library’s first automated check-in system, which was created in the early days of bar codes. He also contributed the money for the granite countertops at the main library’s circulation and reference desks.
Schack was the anonymous donor who contributed $175,000 of the $200,000 that made the library’s espresso cafe possible. It opened Jan. 26. Among other things, the money paid for the remodeling of a 1934 art-deco reading room that had in recent years been used for storage, temporary displays and book sales.
"He said a coffee shop is an important part of building a community," Nesse said.
Schack believed in the 13-year-old Children’s Museum in Snohomish County even in its early years, when the group had few big donors, said Nancy Johnson, executive director of the museum.
His contribution in 2000 of more than $1 million for the museum’s new building in downtown Everett — which will open in September — was a sign to other donors that the $4.75 million project was for real, and it led to other donations, Johnson said.
"He literally gave us the wings to fly," Johnson said. "We are a very young nonprofit organization in the scope of things. Without a major gift like that, people look at you and say it’s not possible."
Schack was a successful entrepreneur who owned several companies over the years, Nesse said. A company he owned during World War II made hand grenades and mortars. Other companies he owned made working stoves for children, highway concrete barriers, concrete utility poles and tempered glass, Nesse said.
Funeral arrangements were still pending.
Reporter David Olson:
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