By Kate Stockrahm

One local family is looking toward the future for four area organizations dedicated to Flint and Genesee County’s past.

William Gainey, Brian Tesler, and their son, Aiden Gainey, approached the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) about
starting endowments for the Genesee County Historical Society, Whaley Historic House Museum, Flint Genealogical Society, and Stockton House Museum, back in July 2025.

“I just really love history,” the elder Gainey explained of why he and his family wanted to contribute to the four organizations. In fact, Gainey said, one of his first memories of falling in love with history was on a school trip to the home of President Benjamin Harrison in Indianapolis.

A commercial pilot originally from rural Indiana, Gainey might be better known to Flint locals for his many other historical pursuits, like his collection of 1940s and 50s-era pinball machines, restoration work to the family’s 1872 Italianate home (the Hiram “Hardwood” Smith House), or his historic house atop I-beams in Flint’s Grand Traverse District.

Gainey said that he and Tesler, who was born and raised in Flint and now serves as Chief Medical Director of Women’s Health for McLaren, established the four endowment funds through a $40,000 gift from their shared business, Ob/Gyn Board Prep ®. He told East Village Magazine the funds are “our way of giving back to our community.”

When asked why his family chose to give in this way, Gainey said he felt that setting up endowments was one of the best means to ensure the four organizations would benefit without board members having to manage the funds themselves.

“Look, these boards, when you give money directly, have to manage that money,” explained Gainey, who has been on Whaley House’s board since 2009. “It’s a pain, and many board members are volunteers, so there’s not necessarily always someone there that has the financial savvy to manage it and invest to build it. The Community Foundation does that. It’s an incredible service.”

Once each fund reaches $50,000, CFGF will issue yearly payouts to the organizations, whose leaders can then use the money “however they’d like,” Gainey said, rather than be restricted to grant or donor stipulations.

Since the funds were established in early October 2025, the Whaley House Historic Museum has met the $50,000 goal to start seeing payouts. A boon, President Izzy Guertin explained, as the museum celebrated its 50th anniversary in February.

“As a nonprofit, we rely completely on grants and donations to operate,” Guertin said. “Heading into our 50th year, this endowment will help us to 50 more no matter the uncertainty of the surrounding economy.”

For the family’s part, Gainey said he was surprised that the four organizations didn’t already have endowments given their relative ages – the Genesee County Historical Society has been around since 1915, he pointed out – and his belief that “Genesee County is a very giving community.” 

Regardless, Gainey said, he hopes that now that endowment funds are established for these four organizations, others will consider giving to the places working to preserve Flint and Genesee County’s rich local history.

Editor’s Note: This article originally ran in East Village Magazine’s March 2026 print edition.