Joyce Young (born c. 1925) is a Canadian woman famous for a single act of

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, a donation of CAD$40 million to the Hamilton Community Foundation in 2000. She is the wife of Bill Young, a retired

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

Canadian Armed Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

and the aunt of Red Hat, Inc. founder Bob Young.

Early life

Bill Young graduated from Hillfield Strathallan College in 1935 and Joyce graduated from Hillfield in 1943. After graduating, Bill served in the Canadian military during World War II, serving in England, Italy, and northwest Europe. The couple met after Bill returned from the war. Joyce left

The University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

to become a full-time home-maker. The couple have three children, Douglas, Catherine, and William.

Red Hat, Inc.

Young and her husband Bill Young, both residents of Ancaster, Ontario, opted to help their nephew Bob with his high-tech venture shortly after its founding in 1993. Bob's company, Red Hat, Inc., is one dedicated to open source software such as Red Hat Linux, and the proprietary Red Hat Enterprise Linux. When Red Hat's stock rose significantly after its initial public offering in 1999, the elder Youngs were able to sell enough

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

to recoup their initial investment, but chose to retain some stocks. Joyce was quoted as saying, By January 2000, the remaining stock was valued in the millions. This enabled Joyce to make a donation of

CAD$ The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can ...

40 million in June 2000, to the Hamilton Community Foundation. The money was given for the purpose of improving

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

-area health facilities. This act represented one of the largest charitable donations in Canadian history. A long-time volunteer with local community groups, Joyce later stated her biggest concern was in giving away the money responsibly.

Projects

* $50,000 was donated to Hillfield Strathallan College. * $50,000 was donated for the beautification of the Royal Military College of Canada Memorial Arch. * $50,000 was donated to the Juno Beach Centre. Established by 2552 Major (Ret'd) Bill Young (RMC 1936) and Joyce Young, the J.D. Young Memorial lecture, a speech given at the Royal Military College of Canada, as well as other activities by the Young Memorial Visitor, honour the memories of 2360 Major John Douglas Young (RMC 1937) who was killed in action on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

, and his father, Maj.-Gen. James V. Young (RMC 1911). Major Doug Young, having no known grave, is commemorated in the Bayeux Memorial in Calvados.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Joyce Businesspeople from Ontario People from Hamilton, Ontario Possibly living people 1920s births