West St. Paul Tutors Come To You

One of the world’s greatest philanthropists had the humblest of beginnings in West St. Paul, Minnesota. Joan Kroc, the third wife of McDonald Corporation magnate Ray Croc, was born just prior to the year of the Great Depression. Her father lost his railway job soon after Joan’s birth, and the family struggled economically. A former concert violinist, Joan’s mother made sure Joan had piano lessons throughout childhood. By age fifteen, Joan was teaching lessons to help out her family; later she played piano in local supper clubs to support herself.

While playing piano for diners at Criterion Restaurant in St. Paul, she met Ray Kroc, who was selling McDonald’s franchises. Both were already married—Joan to a McDonald’s franchisee—and Joan and her husband had a young daughter. Twelve years later, Joan and Ray reconnected at a McDonald’s conference. Ray is said to have been mesmerized by Joan’s “blond beauty,” but the spark was mutual, and both went through divorces to marry each other.

The couple moved to San Diego, where Ray bought the San Diego Padres, preventing the team from moving to Washington, D.C. Knowing almost nothing about major league baseball, Joan wondered why Ray wanted to buy a monastery.

Income poured in from Ray’s McDonald’s franchises, and Ray and Joan both chose non-profit organizations to support financially, investing heavily in children’s services. After Ray’s death in 1984, Joan turned her full attention to philanthropy and took a strong interest in the Salvation Army. She believed that Ray, an old bell-ringer, would be pleased with her choice. Joan did not like growing up in Depression-era times, and she wanted children to have every opportunity to find their skills and talents. She was very concerned about people living in blighted neighborhoods and felt that community centers offering services such as academic support, tutoring, and recreation would bring positive change to families. She worked with the Salvation Army to follow through on her vision and opened the first Kroc Center in San Diego. She also bequeathed another $1.6 billion to open similar centers across America.

Forbes ranked Joan number 121 on the list of the wealthiest Americans in 2003, the same year she died of brain cancer. At her memorial service, a granddaughter read a letter she had received from Kroc on her twenty-first birthday. Kroc’s advice was to “Serve others joyously, and your reward will be great!… Amount to something! Vow to be more than a parlor ornament…”

Kroc’s mission to fund organizations she thought would improve the world has reaped lasting benefits for many families. Her community centers provide needed recreational, social, and educational services to children and their families. Services such as tutoring can help West St. Paul students be the kind of person Joan Kroc would be proud of.