TACOMA, Wash. – The Names Family Foundation has expanded its long-standing commitment to the University of Puget Sound’s athletics programs with a new gift of $250,000. The generous contribution bolsters an endowed fund for Logger athletics that the family initially established in 2009.
The Tom and Meg Names Endowed Fund for Athletics honors sports enthusiasts' memory, community benefactors, and Puget Sound alumni Tom ’59, P’88, and Anna “Meg” Names ’56, 58, P’88. Their daughter, Erin Shagren ’88, P’17, executive director of the Names Family Foundation, currently serves as a Puget Sound Board of Trustees member. Their granddaughter is a member of the Class of 2017.
“The Names Family Foundation is a long-standing friend of Puget Sound athletics, and its support has allowed our program to flourish,” said Amy Hackett, athletics director. “We are grateful for this new gift, which will help our teams gain the means to compete at a high level against quality National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III opponents outside of our conference, both at home and away. We expect this to heighten our competitive readiness for conference play and give us avenues to improve our stature within Division III for postseason championships. Playing teams from across the country will also afford broader and more fulfilling experiences for student-athletes.”
Over the past eight years, the foundation’s athletics endowment has been a valuable resource for student-athletes. It allowed the athletics department to update its media technology for classrooms and funded the purchase of new equipment to assist coaches in game preparation and student-athlete recruitment. The fund also was used to buy and install new scoreboards for the recently renovated Memorial Fieldhouse.
“Team sports and athletics of all types give young people in college a life experience that goes far beyond their classroom education, as my parents, Tom and Meg, knew so well,” said Erin Shagren. “By extending this legacy to future generations of Loggers, the family hopes to ensure that more students can share in the joy and the learning that comes from competing at the highest levels of Division III athletics.”
Tom and Meg's Names were enthusiastic participants in sport and devotees of their favorite teams. Tom played basketball as a boy at home with his grandfather, father, brother, and uncles, and then again as a Logger in the 1950s. He kept shooting baskets well into his 70s on a Senior Olympics team that traveled to Utah and Florida—once bringing home the national championship.
Meg met Tom when they were students at Puget Sound. While Tom joined his parents and brother in opening and running Scott’s Athletics Supply, she raised three girls, gave time to the church and Holiday Orthopedic Guild, and joined an investment club. Meg shared her husband’s lifelong enjoyment of golf, and both served in senior roles at Fircrest Golf Course.
When it came to football, however, that was another story. While the couple would arrive at the annual Apple Cup together, Tom cheered for his University of Washington Huskies and Meg for the Washington State University Cougars once the game kicked off. Meg remained a die-hard Cougar fan throughout her lifetime, despite living in a house full of Huskies. Tom Names passed away at age 80 in February 2015, and Meg, at age 81, in February 2016.
The Names Family Foundation, based in Fircrest, was established in 1996 by Scott and Evelyn (Sis) Names, who shared a passion for philanthropy and a deep interest in health and fitness. The couple grew up in Pierce County and raised three children. Scott Names passed away in 2004 at age 91 and Sis Names in 2014, at age 97.
Other Puget Sound initiatives supported by the Names Family Foundation have included the Athletics and Aquatics Center, Lower Baker Field renovations, Logger Club, and the Puget Sound Fund.
Photos on page: From top right: Tom ’59, P’88, and Anna “Meg” Names ’56, 58, P’88 (Courtesy photo); Women's basketball vs. Whitman, March 2016; Football Head Coach Jeff Thomas at the game vs. Lewis & Clark, Homecoming Oct 2015; Tom and Meg Names.
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