From the time Clayton Brockel founded Kenai Peninsula College in 1964, he and his wife, Jean, were loyal champions of the institution.
Clayton died in 2013 and Jean in 2019. But their support for KPC lives on.
The college just received the largest donation in its history from the Jean Brockel estate, over $1.6 million. The contribution will be divvied up between the Brockel Family Scholarship Endowment, for students of the humanities, fine arts and performing arts, and the John C. Brockel Scholarship Endowment, for students with interests in business and industry programs at the college.
The estate also donated properties to the college that are assessed at $87,000, according to Director Gary Turner.
Jean Brockel grew up in Minnesota. She taught as an adjunct professor at KPC and was a founding member of multiple performing arts organizations on the peninsula.
Jean and Clayton had a son, John, who died in 2008. Jean died at age 85.
This financial contribution is not the family’s first support to the college. Prior, the Brockels had donated a total of nearly $1 million in both funds and land.