She was quiet in nature but her impact was loud—Elaine J. Wold, a philanthropist who made an indelible mark in Boca Raton, has died.
In his “My Turn” column in 2019, the late John Shuff wrote of Wold, “She is an elegant and shy woman who has generously supported, among others, Boca Raton Regional Hospital and Lynn University for decades. This does not include the numerous friends she has quietly taken under her wing. She is a very private person whose individual acts of charity seldom enter the conversation but have touched and comforted many.”
The Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University was named in honor of the couple in 2010, thanks to a $9.3 million donation. The restaurant Elaine’s on campus is also named in her honor. She founded the annual “Elaine’s Musical Treat,” connecting actors with students to collaborate on performances. In 2014, the university awarded Wold an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.
In 2018, Wold made a $25 million donation to Boca Raton Regional Hospital (BRRH) to build the Gloria Drummond Patient Tower; it was named in honor of Wold’s dear friend and the woman behind the founding of the hospital. The BRRH Foundation President Mark Larkin said at the time, “Elaine and Gloria were two determined and compassionate friends. Their shared desire to make a difference has had a profound impact on our community.” Wold’s contributions to the hospital also include the creation of the Wold Family Center for Emergency Medicine, which modernized emergency health care and serves more than 50,000 patients each year.
Other organizations Wold supported included the Boca Raton Historical Society, Boca Raton Community Foundation, Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League, Lupus Foundation Southeast Chapter, Center for the Arts in Boca Raton, Junior League and the Christine E. Lynn School of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University.
Wold was born Elaine Johnson in 1928 in New Jersey, granddaughter of Johnson & Johnson cofounder Robert Wood Johnson. She married her husband Keith C. Wold in 1949 and in 1955 they moved to South Florida. The couple had two children, Keith C. Wold, Jr. and Diana J. Wold. In 1961, they founded the Bay Branch Foundation and the Wold Charitable Trust with the mission to support education and medical research projects. Keith died in 2003.
“As a woman of grace and vision, Elaine was one of the most polite and charming individuals we have ever had the pleasure of meeting,” Lynn University President Kevin Ross said in a statement. “Her kindness and generosity will always be remembered. My parents, President Emeritus Donald Ross and former First Lady Helen Ross, had the privilege of first connecting with Elaine and her family many years ago.”
Details for funeral arrangements will be provided when they become available.
