The seven Lienemann children grew up learning the value of money and charity from their parents, Delmar and Charlotte Lienemann.
Del Lienemann Sr. made them sell Christmas cards door-to-door, recalled son Doug, and vegetables from the garden, added his sister, Denise Scholz. She said the exercise was good at teaching her how to address people and do business face-to-face.
“He ran his own business and taught us about money, the importance of money and how to handle money,” Denise continued. “Dad would write me an IOU as a kid if I needed money.”
During his lifetime, Lienemann was an accountant, real estate developer, retailer, investor, civic leader (served on the Lancaster County Board from 1954-1958) and managed a farm in Gretna.
After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1941, Del Sr. began what became a 66-year career as a CPA.
People are also reading…
Charlotte finished nursing school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha and went on to work at all three Lincoln hospitals before quitting to raise her family and run a gift shop.
Helped establish four charitable foundations
Doug recalls that his dad was always encouraging people to do something as a lasting legacy. Del Sr. helped establish four charitable foundations – the Lienemann Charitable Foundation in 1967, as well as the Erck, Sterns and Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundations.
Del Sr. created his family foundation to provide grants that would impact people’s lives and ultimately make a difference throughout the community. The Lienemanns had a 45-year friendship with Ethel Abbott, and Del managed her foundation. Five Lienemann children currently sit on its board, overseeing a $27 million fund.
“Dad was always a forward thinker,” Scholz shared. “He was always thinking how he could help others.”
Her mom embodied compassion, she added. “She was just a caring, loving individual.”
Working solely through 501(c)(3) organizations, the foundation has honored its founders’ giving philosophy to support religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational purposes for the past 53 years.
“Their whole lives, they taught us by example about volunteering and helping others and not living beyond their means,” shared Scholz. “So all of us have a heart for helping others and serving the community through volunteering.”
When Del Sr. died in 2018, the bulk of his estate was added to the Lienemann Foundation coffers, providing for more substantial gifts. In 2020, the foundation awarded 22 grants totaling $430,000, primarily to organizations in the Lincoln and Omaha metropolitan areas. Among them was the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, which received $9,000 for operational funding.
Supporting the Lincoln Children’s Zoo
Zoo financial support from the Lienemann family goes back to the 1960s, when Charlotte made a donation in honor of her father’s retirement from the railroad. A portion of the zoo’s train track is named Earl Roy Peck curve after him.
Additional past zoo support includes a $250,000 donation to its Animal Care Center and the purchase of a train engine in honor of Charlotte and her father.
In 2017, Zoo President and CEO John Chapo got an overwhelming response when he approached the Foundation for the Love Your Zoo capital campaign, receiving $500,000 toward the new Giraffe Encounter.
“It was a significant boost and kick for us to get the campaign rolling,” Chapo said.
“The zoo is privately funded, and they do such a great job maintaining excellence,” shared Scholz, a Lienemann Foundation trustee.
University of Nebraska support
The University of Nebraska is another key recipient of funds. The Foundation sponsored a College of Business room along with the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation and put a half million dollars toward the College of Nursing Building.
In 1996, the Lienemann Foundation and Ethel S. Abbott Foundation each gave $100,000 to establish a distinguished chair in nursing at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. And in 2012, Del Sr. gave $1 million to establish an endowed accounting chair at UNL, allowing the university to provide an annual stipend for salary, research and program support.
“Dad wanted to fund the accounting chair while he was still alive,” Doug said.
According to a quote from Del Sr. in an Oct. 2, 2012, Daily Nebraskan article highlighting the $1 million gift, he was always a believer in charity and felt that he needed to bless others as the Lord had blessed him.
Six of the seven Lienemann children received degrees from UNL like their parents. Del Jr. and Doug became CPAs, and Del Jr. continues as head of D.A. Lienemann CPA, PC. Del Sr. retired at age 94.
Another son, Dan, also took up accounting, while daughter Diane followed in her mother’s footsteps to become a nurse. Scholz and her husband own their own business, and her sister Dorothy is a family counselor. David died at age 15 from a brain tumor.
Each of the surviving Lienemann children attributes part of their success to their university educations. But they are quick to give a lot of credit to their parents for dedicating their lives to teaching them about finances and compassion.
Doug appreciated his dad’s efforts to teach him business principles, like the concept of risk and reward.
Volunteers as well as philanthropists
Del Sr. and Charlotte left their mark on the community as volunteers as well as philanthropists. Charlotte volunteered at Christ Lutheran Church, for the Lincoln Symphony Guild, Alpha Xi Delta and the University of Nebraska and its foundation.
Del Sr. was a founding member of Christ Lutheran Church and also served as Lincoln Symphony Foundation Board chair for three decades, watching the Foundation’s assets grow from $340,000 to more than $3 million today. The Lienemann/LSO connection began when Charlotte would not agree to a first date with Del unless he took her to the opera.
LSO Executive Director Barbara Zach Lee said Del Sr. was behind changes to make the symphony more accessible to all ages, and said the Lienemann Foundation would support what became the Young Professional Patrons program, which offers discounts and reduced-price tickets for students and young professionals. The Foundation granted $50,000 to the program last year. The Foundation also helped fund the move to the Lied.
Zach Lee remembers her first encounter with Del Sr. the day she started 15 years ago. He brought her a map of the Lied Center for Performing Arts seating and a proposed pay structure, and told her the LSO should be performing there.
“I was very intimidated by him at first,” she said.
But when he died in 2018, she considered it a significant loss to the LSO family.
“He was so singularly focused on doing things the right way,” she said. “At the end of the day, he cared about making Lincoln a better place.”
Lienemann legacy lives on
Doug would like to see his parents’ legacy live on and the name recognition of the Lienemann Charitable Foundation grow.
“We’ve been finding things to give money to, and now we want people to come find us,” he said. “We want to actively give back.”