Issue date: 7/19/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Tommy Tang/ The Battalion H. J. 'Hank' Gruy, Class of 1937, and his wife Rae break ground on the Gruy Fountain Wednesday . The fountain will be located in front of the John J. Hagler Center and is projected to be complete by the Texas A&M - University of Texas football game. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Shannon Proksch - Special Contrubutor Ten custom-made shovels were created for the ground-breaking event at the Foundation. They were engraved with the donors names and the date of ground-breaking on the neck of the shovel. [Click to enlarge]

The Texas A&M Founda-tion broke ground Wednesday for the fountain to be built with the donation made by Houston residents H.J. "Hank" Gruy, Class of 1937, and Rae T. Gruy.

"I've always lived frugally, very cautiously and I sort of grew up with the idea of giving something back to the places that had given so much to me. Someone else said it but I took it as my mantra, and that is you are what you give," said Rae Gruy, an honorary Aggie.

More than 80 people gathered outside the Jon L. Hagler Center to celebrate the Gruy's $500,000 gift.

"It was a team effort between the Gruys and the foundation and we researched a lot of European fountains and ideas that were appealing and came up with a very classic design," said the fountain's designer. He said planning was done over three months.

The fountain will be two-tiered, 35 feet in diameter, with the water extending about 20 feet in the air. An 80 foot wide plaza will surround the fountain. The project will take about four months to complete.

"The combination of the Gruys' desire to contribute to the beautification of this campus with a landmark and the foundation's plan for a fountain came together unexpectedly this year and we cannot be more delighted," said the Foundation's Interim President John Stropp.

Both Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Jerry Strawser and Interim President Eddie J. Davis were in attendance, and Davis was a guest speaker.

"The Gruy fountain will make the grounds of the Texas A&M Foundation even more beautiful and will provide a permanent legacy for Aggies, not just today, but for years to come," Davis said.

Hank Gruy received a bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from A&M and has received Texas A&M's Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award. He's active in his company, Gruy Engineering Corp.

Davis set the mood with a joke about Hank Gruy's work in the petroleum engineering field. "I think it will be the greatest irony if when we put the shovel in the ground, we hit oil," he said.

After displaying a pillar Hank Gruy previously donated that has the Gruy family graduates' names and class years inscribed on it, Hank Gruy said he was very proud that nine members of his family have attended A&M, himself being the first. Other graduates of A&M include his son, Robert H. Gruy, Class of 1969, his granddaughter and numerous others.

Rae Gruy was raised in Bryan and received a bachelor's degree from Sam Houston State and a master's degree from Texas Southern University.

"This is a dream I never knew I had, and its very exciting. Even though I am about to be 85 years old, it is still possible to get excited like a child," Rae Gruy said.

Lani Anderson of Arp, Texas, and Shanon Proksch of Montgomery, Texas, are high school students with the Youth Adventure Program at Texas A&M.

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