F. W. Symmes Foundation

Mission The mission of the F.W. Symmes Foundation is to make a positive impact on the lives of Greenville County residents by making gifts to religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational organizations, and to organizations which work for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. About the Foundation FRED W. SYMMES 1879-1957 With a head for business and a heart for Greenville County, Mr. Fred W. Symmes spent his life building the textile industry and bettering the town he loved. Born in Greenville, the only son with five sisters, he attended Furman University but was unable to finish due to his contracting scarlet fever. Mr. Symmes remained a bachelor, devoted to insuring the welfare of his sisters and family. Woven together were his career pursuits and civic commitments. Between 1910 and 1950, Mr. Symmes organized and managed Nuckasee Manufacturing Co., later a subsidiary of United Merchants and Manufacturers and Piedmont Plush Mills, maker of high quality material for theater curtains and seats. Through the years he held various posts in other textile companies. His prominence in the field was matched by his community mindedness and led to positions of civic leadership such as chairman of the library board and a member of the Public Works Commission. In 1954, three years before he died, Mr. Symmes created a plan for his sizable estate to continue benefiting Greenville County for years to come. At the suggestion of his good friends, R.E. Houston, Jr., F. Dean Rainey, W.W. McEachern and W. Gordon McCabe, he created the F.W. Symmes Foundation. Mr. Symmes stipulated that the Foundation be operated exclusively for charitable purposes and asked that a family member remain on the three-member Board of Trustees. The Trustees were to administer these gifts at their discretion, always taking into account the financial status of the Foundation and the needs of the particular charity involved. Of Fred W. Symmes, a friend to all of Greenville, it can truly be said: “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also.”