HUNTSVILLE – After moving their household 26 times, Jim and Judy Link made Huntsville their permanent home when Jim retired from the Army in 2000.
It didn’t take long for the couple to put down roots, either.
While Jim, a retired lieutenant general who died last year, took executive positions with a pair of Huntsville companies, Judy was active in the Huntsville community, participating in charitable and civic activities.
Representatives from the Link family gathered with representatives from local nonprofit organizations at the offices of financial services firm Bridgeworth + Savant to celebrate the generosity left by Jim and Judy Link through an endowment that will be managed by the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville. The Link Family Fund, when fully funded, will total in excess of $6 million.
The Links’ legacy gift represents the largest single gift ever received by the Community Foundation and the largest endowment the organization currently manages.
“We are deeply honored to manage the Links’ legacy gift to this community,” said Melissa Thompson, CEO/president of the Community Foundation. “Our commitment is to honor Jim and Judy Link by carrying out their charitable goals for this community they loved and that loved them back.”
Link’s Army career included three tours at Redstone Arsenal, serving as deputy commanding general of the Army Materiel Command, chief of state, and commander of the Army Missile Command.
After retiring from the military, Link served as president of Teledyne Brown Engineering and senior vice president at SAIC.
The Links devoted their time and their resources to several nonprofits organizations that aligned with their passions and their interests. The endowment will permanently support 10 of these organizations and will be memorialized on the wall at Community Foundation Park, which honors donors who have included the Community Foundation in their charitable estate planning. This investment will continue to pay dividends through the ongoing work of the organizations who are the beneficiaries.
The following nonprofit organizations will share in the Links’ legacy of generosity managed through this endowment:
- Arts Huntsville
- Broadway Theater League
- Burritt on the Mountain
- Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville
- HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology
- Huntsville Hospital Foundation
- Huntsville Symphony Orchestra
- UAH Foundation for the UAH Carey Anne Link Achievement Scholarship • UCP Huntsville
- Village of Promise
“The Links were pillars of our community, known for their generosity, kindness, and unwavering dedication to making a difference,” said Brian Hinson, managing director/financial advisor at Bridgeworth + Savant. “Their decision to establish this endowment underscores their commitment to creating a lasting impact and to ensuring that their legacy lives on through the transformative work of these local nonprofits.”
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