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Jolly Urner Endowment

The Jolly Urner Endowment supports Pasadena Community Foundation’s grantmaking in youth and education, with a focus on underprivileged children. Honoring Jolly’s lifelong dedication to teaching and community service, the fund continues her legacy of uplifting young learners in Pasadena.

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OVERVIEW

About the Fund

Dorothy “Jolly” Urner was born in 1934 and raised in Hagerstown, Maryland, to Martin Jonas Urner and Dorothy Jolliffe. Jolly graduated from Sweet Briar College in Virginia and earned a Master’s degree in Education at Stanford University. Devoting her life’s work to the education of children, she taught in public schools in Delaware and California, and independent schools in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania and San Francisco, California before coming to Polytechnic School in Pasadena as the Lower School Director in 1969.

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Dedicated to Polytechnic School

“Poly” would be her professional home for the next 30 years. During that time, she welcomed hundreds of new faculty members with warmth and hospitality, providing them with information about the city and the school’s culture. She worked with four Heads of School in furthering the school’s commitment to service and community outreach. After her retirement in 1999, Jolly continued to stop by school to greet new Heads and catch up with old friends and new hires. She served on the Centennial Committee as one of two principal writers for the Poly 100 Year Book, which provided a comprehensive overview of the school’s history.

Service in Retirement

Jolly’s service to the Pasadena community became her focus in retirement. She continued to be engaged at All Saints Church, where she had served as Junior Warden of the Vestry. She served as a board member and President of Pasadena Child Health Foundation and was active in the Pasadena Art Alliance. Jolly was proud to have been a member of the founding committee of the Pasadena Library’s One City One Story initiative. An avid sailor and skier, a fun-loving and competitive golfer and tennis player, a student of the cello, sketching, and watercolors, Jolly was happiest walking her beloved huskies and sharing her life with them. Jolly passed away on February 26, 2022.

Grantmaking Impact

Through this fund, PCF has been able to

  • Support flexibility
  • Allows PCF to direct resources when and where they are needed most, respond quickly to emerging needs, and fill funding gaps that restricted gifts can’t cover.
  • Provide sustained funding
    Offer consistent financial support for local nonprofits addressing academic achievement and youth development.
  • Enhance community programs
  • Empower organizations to expand their services and reach more individuals in need.
  • Promote long-term solutions
  • Invest in programs that not only provide immediate relief but also work towards sustainable solutions for education access and youth success.

Contact Us

For more information about PCF giving opportunities, please contact
Pasadena Community Foundation
301 E. Colorado Blvd., Suite 810
Pasadena, CA., 91101
626.796.2097
pcfstaff@pasadenacf.org

“I have had several clients for whom the Pasadena Community Foundation was a fit for their charitable goals within their estate plan or trust. PCF is flexible and works to help my clients understand their options so that I can draft a trust document that reflects their intentions.”

— Jolly Urner’s estate attorney, Gloria Pitzer

Portrait image of Gloria Pitzer
Forever Gifts

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