By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Bob Leong, who nine years ago took a fledgling Hawaii Catholic high school scholarship program under his wing giving dozens of less fortunate young “scholars” the opportunity of a Catholic school education, died Feb. 23 in Seattle where he lived.
“My father passed away peacefully early this morning with his wife, Diane, and me by his side,” his son Ryan wrote to friends of PWH, the organization Leong headed that has placed 90 students in Hawaii Catholic high schools tuition-free.
He was 71.
“We will all miss him dearly but will carry on his spirit through the mission of the PWH Foundation,” Ryan said. The younger Leong will succeed his father as PWH president.
To Leong, his scholarship students were not anonymous profiles on application forms, but people he got to know personally, whose individual stories he sought to understand, whose futures he had invested in.
“Bob relished speaking with the students,” said superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools Llewellyn Young. “He would rather speak with the students than with the adults, and I admired that dedication.”
“He always wanted to hear first-hand how the program was impacting the lives of the students it served, and he made sure the students had all the tools necessary to succeed,” he said. “He listened to them intently and took their words to heart. He gained their trust, and he celebrated their successes.”
“He was passionate about Catholic education,” Young said.
“Bob saw the potential of students who were less fortunate, who would not have had the opportunity to receive a Catholic education, whose struggles in life started at an early age, and who were at risk of drifting down a darker path,” Young said. “He provided a light, that glimmer of hope, not just to students, but to their families. They realized that someone out there cared. Someone out there was living the true mission of Catholic schools to reach those less fortunate.”
Bishop Larry Silva said that Leong sought to make a Catholic education “not only affordable but practical for students most in need.”
He understood that, more than full scholarships, students need a stable environment to thrive, the bishop said.
“PWH (Perseverance, Wisdom, Hope) provides counseling, tutoring, and many other services needed to make a disadvantaged child successful in school,” he said. “His vision and generosity have already borne much great fruit, and I pray they will continue to do so for many years to come.”
Sue Ferandin, director to the Augustine Educational Foundation that administers the PWH scholarship program, said Leong’s participation began with his simple question: “What if you could help a student for all four years of high school with a scholarship and we helped them along the way?”
“This was the beginning of the PWH Scholars Program in Hawaii,” Ferandin said. “Nothing like this had been done in Hawaii, and Bob with the other directors nudged us along the way to form a program that the AEF is very proud to administer.”
Immeasurable support
“The resources that Bob and PWH gave us are immeasurable — consistent and very generous funding, along with time and resources to guide us on how to make our program sustainable,” she said. The Foundation contributes to the Hawaii program close to $1 million a year.
Ferandin spoke with Leong four days before he died. She said his focus was “offering a very generous contribution.”
“It was incredible to hear a man who knew he was dying speak of helping those whom he had never met before,” she said.
“Bob Leong was motivated by serving others,” she said, not just in Hawaii, but in Africa, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle and, she is sure, other places she does not know about.
“He really never wanted the attention on him or PWH,” Ferandin said. “It was always about the people.”
“I enjoyed working with Bob very much. He was a mentor to me. Always fair, kind and generous with his time,” she said. “He expected a lot, but he always took the time to be grateful and to share his appreciation.”
Vicar general Msgr. Gary Secor, president of the Augustine Educational Foundation, described Leong as “a very intelligent and competent leader who made sure that the assets of the PWH Foundation were used well to provide a quality education for those, Catholic and non-Catholic, who otherwise would never have been able to go to a Catholic high school.”
“His contribution to Catholic education in Hawaii is hard to over-emphasize,” the monsignor said. “He made it possible for us to extend the gift of a Catholic education to the most needy — fully paid for.”
“I told him on several occasions that this kind of help — at this generous level — was truly what we always desired to do,” Msgr. Secor said.
A unique program
Among the unique aspects of the PWH scholarship is that you can’t apply for it. The three participating schools, St. Joseph, Hilo, Damien Memorial and Sacred Hearts Academy, with help from the Augustine Educational Foundation, find the students from diverse economic, academic and social backgrounds based on potential — not merit or athletics.
There are 50 currently enrolled in the program. About 40 have graduated since the program started.
PWH also pays the salary of a counselor or academic coach at each school. Scholarship students must participate in individual and family counseling and join in retreats and service activities with the other recipients.
“That is the cornerstone of how we operate,” Leong said in a 2015 Hawaii Catholic Herald interview. “Everyone has a buy-in. They all take ownership of it. It makes for a better cohesive approach.”
“You can’t just give a kid a scholarship and leave him at the front door and say, ‘Here, go study,’” he said.
“All of our students come to school with a lot of other issues that sometimes impede their learning ability. What we want to do is understand that and somehow mitigate some of those issues,” he said.
Leong is the son of Edith Leong, matriarch of the philanthropic Leong family, who years ago established the Jack and Edith Leong Endowment Fund managed by the Augustine Educational Foundation and who remains a frequent and generous contributor to the foundation.
Born in Hawaii, Leong himself is a product of local Catholic schools, attending St. Patrick School and Saint Louis High School in Kaimuki in the 1960s.
He did his undergraduate work at Marquette University in Milwaukee and earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin.
Leong first worked in Wisconsin for 13 years supervising a county child welfare unit. Besides managing the PWH Foundation, he described himself as a private investor.
He also spent two months out of the year in the small southeast African country of Malawi managing nutritional, health and sanitation projects he and his wife, Dr. Diane Magyary, have developed for the people there. Their work includes the installation of pumps for drinking water, growing quinoa, a nutritious grain, and supporting schools and orphanages.
The PWH Educational Foundation, which is based in Seattle, also has several projects on the Mainland similar to Hawaii’s.