By Brenda Sexton-The Courier-Herald

Growing up, Marie Taylor remembers visiting her uncle Albert Bogdan on his Enumclaw farm almost every weekend. She also recalls how he was always dispensing financial advice and estolling the virtues of education.

&#8220He impressed me,” Taylor said. &#8220I followed through with his advice to my sister and I.

&#8220He would always talk about how important being a teacher was in his life,” she said. &#8220He was very influential.”

Bogdan stressed to his young nieces the importance of pursuing career goals and to be college-minded. He also always had advice on managing and investing money, she said.

&#8220It was good to hear it from someone other than my parents,” Taylor said. She followed her uncle's advice and then found her education took her into the other area Bogdan emphasized - fiscal education. Taylor is an investment adviser and broker.

After Bogdan's death - he died in November 2006 at the age of 95 - he's still teaching and dispensing financial advice through his legacy. He left thousands of dollars to Plateau institutions.

&#8220He never stopped being a student and teacher,” remembrances from his funeral noted.

Through the years, Taylor said, Bogdan sold parcels of his 130 acres and invested the money in high-quality stocks that paid dividends.

He was a lifelong learner and encouraged others to be, too. Taylor said he updated the residents of High Point Village on the dips and twists of the stock market daily, and challenged them to follow politics - local, state and national. She said he was also known to give a bit of advice to friends here and there at his favorite haunts - The Kitchen and Lee Restaurant.

Bogdan graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in economics and history. He also earned a teaching certificate and put it to use after serving in World War II when, in 1946, he landed a job at Enumclaw High School where he taught typing, shorthand and bookkeeping. He would later become the district's business manager. He retired from the Enumclaw School District in 1970.

John Gillis was friends with Bogdan for the past 40 years. He recalls fondly the man who was forced on crutches by arthritis and hip and knee replacement, but still came to breakfast at The Kitchen daily and maintained his acreage.

&#8220Even though he was a bachelor, he shared many values and much interest in his brothers' families and often gave wise advice to anyone who was planning on a successful future,” Gillis said.

&#8220I found Al to be a very interesting and intelligent man in conversations. He really loved his 10 acre ‘farm' and the Enumclaw community.”

Taylor said as close as she and her uncle were, she didn't know about his bequest, although she had an inkling.

&#8220I was really pleased when I saw the organizations that were getting the money,” she said.

Bogdan left $50,000 to the Enumclaw School District for a perpetual scholarship for students interested in the field of education. He gifted another $50,000 to Green River Community College, where he took some classes, to fund another perpetual scholarship for students studying business. He left another $50,000 to the University of Washington, also for a continuing scholarship but this time for students pursuing economics.

His final two gifts, also $50,000 each, were to the Enumclaw Regional Healthcare Foundation, in part because he was friends with longtime board member Jim Puttman. The two served for decades together on the King County Drainage District. The final recipient is KCTS public television.

&#8220He really believed in the quality programs they offered,” Taylor said, especially the shows he enjoyed watching like &#8220The News Hour with Jim Lehrer.”

&#8220It was pretty neat to write those checks and send off those letters,” Taylor said. &#8220It's such a positive thing for him and it's been a really positive thing for me, too. To see how people have responded to his generosity. I wish he'd had been able to do it while he was living so he could feel what I got to feel, but that was a decision he made.”

&#8220People leaving a legacy in your local community - whether it be Green River, the school district or the hospital really does make a difference,” said Josh Gerstman, Green River Community College Foundation development director. He said Bogdan's generous endowment, and a similar one made last year by Mutual of Enumclaw, will help students attend the college for years.

&#8220He really believed in this community and the way he supported all these organizations is very commendable,” Gertsman said.

Brenda Sexton can be reached at bsexton@courierherald.com.