 "Photo: Aaron Gould/The Olympian")
The Sophia Bremer Child Development Center, the most recent addition to the Olympic College campus, was made possible in no small part by the Bremer Trust, who covered $2.5 million of the building’s $4.5 million price tag.
The Bremer Trust has had a prominent impact on OC, according to trustee Michael Connolly. More than $7 million have been provided to OC by the Bremer Trust since its formal inception in December 1987.
“We are their prime recipient,” said OC Vice President of Administrative Services Barbara Martin. “They exist to help us.”
According to Connolly, the history of the Bremer Trust dates back to the early days of Bremerton. Bremerton founders William and Sophia Bremer had two sons, John and Edward Bremer. John Bremer passed away in the late 1960’s, Edward Bremer passed in 1986. Both men died without wives, children or heirs.
Both of the brothers held assets in downtown Bremerton real estate. According to Connolly, John Bremer chose to leave his estate to OC. Edward Bremer followed suit and after his passing in 1987, the two trusts were consolidated into one with OC as its recipient.
“I think it was inevitable that they would leave it to some charity,” said Connolly. “So they did. It just happened to be Olympic College, but there is nothing in the will that says why.”
Land deals were orchestrated by the Bremer Trust that, according to Connolly, procured the spaces that became the main student parking lot and the automotive center opposite the main campus across Warren Avenue.
A restatement of trust occurred five years ago, altering Connolly’s 18-year status as sole trustee. Joining him on the small board of trustees are attorney John Mitchell and former state senator Betti Sheldon.
“We three are the trustees to make sure the funds aren’t depleted,” said Sheldon. “We are responsible for the trust.”
Connolly stumbled upon the position of trustee while serving a stint as interim president of OC. According to Connolly, the will of Edward Bremer stated that whoever was sitting president of the college instantly became the trustee.
“The board of the college did not want the president to also be the trustee,” said Connolly. “Simply because they wanted the president’s attention focused on the operation of the college, not real estate. It was an easier thing to do to give it to me.”
According to Connolly, the rubric for fund distribution states that roughly half of the net income of assets must go to the college on a yearly basis.
Possessing an asset base of roughly $20 million, the Bremer Trust — while suffering asset erosion over the course of the past few years — has been able to provide larger annual distributions to OC as a result of real estate proceeds invested in stocks and bonds.
According to Martin, funds received annually averaged around $300,000 for several years. Money received from the Bremer Trust during the past three to four years had been accumulated for usage on the Sophia Bremer Child Development Center.
OC is granted control over what funds received from the trust can be used for. President Mitchell said he prefers using Bremer Trust funds for less-frequent larger projects instead of frequent smaller purchases.
“My view is to make a big impact with the money,” said Mitchell. “There is nothing in the trust that says we have to do it that way, I just think it makes a bigger impact and it really gets us something we couldn’t get otherwise.”
Bremer Trust funds have been used in a multitude of ways, including providing a variety of scholarships, funding laboratory equipment and furnishings for the Poulsbo science lab and rebuilding the Haselwood library after its roof collapsed ruing a major snow storm in 1996.
Currently, no new plans are in orchestration for Bremer Trust funds. According to Connolly, as long as monetary distributions do not drain in its principal amount, The Bremer Trust will continue to donate to OC.
“It has been clear for quite a while now that community colleges cannot survive in this state if all they have is tuition and state appropriations,” said Connolly. “If you want to do stuff that is cool, special and above the basics, you need other sources of income.”
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