Adrian Schoone (left), shown with Fr. Yamid Blanco, recently made a donation of more than $200,000 to St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Racine. (Submitted photo)

In its June 5 bulletin, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Racine thanked parishioner Adrian Schoone, a founding member of the parish and attorney at law with Schoone, Leuck, Kelley, Pitts & Pitts S.C., for his donation of $210,068.50.

Fr. Yamid Blanco, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle, said, “I know Mr. Adrian Schoone as a very generous man who enjoys supporting Catholic parishes and Catholic schools.”

Blanco said the donation is the biggest the parish has received in his time at St. Paul, as other donations have been given after the passing of a loved one.

Blanco said, “It was a surprise to me when (Schoone) asked me to contact him to speak about a possible donation to St. Paul. At our meeting, Mr. Schoone told me that he has been supporting other parishes and that it was time for him to start (to) support his parish, St. Paul.”

Schoone explained that the donation, while it was a surprise for Blanco and the parish, was part of his recent mission to share his financial blessings with his community. A few years ago, Schoone’s broker suggested that, when he was met with the required yearly minimum withdrawal from his retirement fund, he give the amount to charity so that, in Schoone’s words, “Uncle Sam got none of it.”

Schoone said that, with his career, “I’d been blessed. I don’t know, personally, anyone who’s been luckier than I have been financially in what they did. So, it was quite some time ago, I determined it was time to give back.”

Over the years, Schoone donated more than $1 million to Marquette University, his alma mater, as well as St. Catherine High School and St. Patrick’s Church, both in Racine.

Schoone decided to donate to St. Paul’s “because Fr. Yamid Blanco is an extremely pleasant pastor who is trying very hard so, I contacted him some months ago saying, ‘Father, I think it’s your turn, do you need the money?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and since it’s a mandatory required minimum distribution each year, all I had to do was call up the broker and say ‘Get it done,’ and within two weeks, it was done.”

The money was donated with the stipulation to be used only for capital improvement, as that is what the parish presently needs.