The late Stanley S. Kresge was a man who gave his all back to his community. He considered what he had a trust from God, and that he was merely a steward of what God had given him, said the Rev. William Quick of his most famous parishioner. Kresges plain ways and homespun values were a sharp contrast to the life he could have lived as heir to the Kresge/K-mart fortune. Stanley always had his values right. Many people talk about their faith, but he was a man who lived his faith. He always said money was to be a servant, not a master, said Quick.
Evangelist Billy Graham heard of Kresge's death just after completing a crusade in England. Graham said that he sent a cablegram to Dorothy Kresge saying that her husband was one of my closest friends and greatest counselors.
Kresge gave away hundreds of millions of dollars through the Kresge Foundation begun by his father, Sebastian Kresge, in 1924. To private causes he gave most generously and gave quietly, said William Baldwin, past chairman of the Foundation. I know of many of his gifts, but he never wanted to publicize them. Kresge personally gave $800,000 to Duke University Divinity School.
Bald, rotund and determinedly upbeat, Kresge was frank about most aspects of his life, but he never let it be known how much of his personal fortune he gave away. Id be embarrassed to have anybody think I was bragging about charity, he told a reporter several years before he died. I do it for Jesus sake, not mine. His religious feeling colored all he did. All his check payments and charitable contributions were signed: In the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ, Stanley S. Kresge.