WALNUT RIDGE -- An alumnus of Williams Baptist College who died in 2015 has left the college in Walnut Ridge $2.9 million -- the largest donation in its history, officials said.
Clifford Toney, 57, a 1980 graduate, died in August 2015 of kidney failure. He was a Jonesboro auctioneer and real estate developer.
Most of Toney's estate involved personal property and real estate that auctioneers sold in recent months, Williams Baptist President Tom Jones said in a statement announcing the donation. The items included several parcels of land in Jonesboro, along with several cars, musical instruments, jewelry, coins and antiques.
Jones said in the release that the donation will fund capital improvements at the college, including a new residence hall that will be completed this year.
Three other donors have each left $1 million to the school in the past. Before Toney's, the largest gift was made in 2008 by Steve Manley, who donated $1 million to build a new chapel on campus. Manley is the CEO of Universal Asset Management, which operates a facility at the Walnut Ridge Regional Airport near the college.
Toney earned an associate degree at Williams Baptist College, then called Southern Baptist College.
Williams Baptist is a four-year college with an average enrollment of 500 students. It was founded in 1941.
State Desk on 01/31/2017