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Matching grant for library endowment grows.

Second year progress has brought the fund to $42,750 with a goal of $100,000 with more than 3 years to go.

Benefactor leaves large gift to CSUB

By Jaclyn Loveless

Dolores Freeman Cerro, a Bakersfield woman who bequeathed $21 million to local organizations, including CSUB, died on May 21, 2004. Cerro focused her generosity on the things she valued in life: education, animals, and the church. She also left money for national and state organizations.

  The CSUB Foundation Facility for Animal Care and Treatment Program (FACT), CSUB Campus Cats and the CSUB Stiern Library Associates Fund all received gifts from Mrs. Cerro. The library received about $2 million, the largest gift ever to CSUB or the CSUB Foundation. She also donated to the Victor and Dolores Cerro Scholarship Fund at CSUB, which she had established years ago.

  “This extremely generous gift to the university is one that will have far reaching dividends for us,” said Michael Chertok, vice president for university advancement. “Her support will enable us to improve our services to our students and the community.”

  Chertok also said the gift will expand on what resources the school is now providing. “It will continue the growth of the Walter Stiern Library, educational scholarships, and FACT,” he said. “She was a woman who loved her community and had a great interest in education and wildlife.” 

  President Horace Mitchell echoed Chertok’s sentiment: “Mrs. Cerro’s generous gift will have a profound impact on the library and will benefit every student at CSUB.”

 Her nephew Phil Cerro explained the legacy the 80-year-old left behind, “By setting her sights on becoming a teacher, it is obvious that Dolores Freeman Cerro realized the importance of education at an early age,” Cerro said. “She felt very strongly that a good education was a vital key to a successful life, and that a good education includes plenty of time in the library, with its wealth of books and resources available to everyone. I believe that her donation to the CSUB Stiern Library was a natural fit in her thought process as to leave a portion of her accumulated wealth.”

  Joan Dezember, a family friend for more than 35 years and former chair of the CSUB Foundation Board of Directors, said her friend “Dodo” valued honesty. “She was a wonderful, intelligent woman whose humor and goodwill have been extended to many,” she said. “I’m blessed to have called her my friend.”  

  Born July 5, 1923, Cerro graduated from Kern County Union High School, which became Bakersfield High School in 1942. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she received a bachelor of arts degree in history. She returned to Bakersfield and began teaching with the McFarland School District and later with Panama School. She then met Victor S. Cerro and they were married April 24, 1948, at St. Francis Church.

  Family members said Cerro never forgot the Depression and didn’t squander the money she and her husband made in farming and through the sale of California Republic Bank in 1993, which Victor Cerro helped found. California Republic Bank later sold to First Interstate Bank, which in turn was bought by Wells Fargo Bank. Victor Cerro and his brother also had run Cerro Bros. Ranches.