MANKATO — When the name Val Imm is uttered in this town, it’s usually in reference to the man who spent 30 years in the state Senate representing his fellow Mankatoans.

Or perhaps to the road that snakes its way from Warren Street up to the campus he tirelessly championed.

But there was another Val Imm who came out of Mankato, one whose story is just as interesting. This Val Imm, the late senator’s daughter, left town after college. And by the time she retired, she capped a career as a newspaper reporter and adopted a new hometown — one rich with oil barons and high fashion, and far from the river town in which she grew up.

Imm came home last month. She does so every few years to visit. But this visit had a purpose. The success of her career and marriage has put her in a position to be philanthropic. She’s donated a large sum of money to Bethany Lutheran College, money that will be used for scholarships to communications, English and religion students.

“When you’re there financially,” Imm said last week while in Mankato, “it’s the greatest joy in the world to give it away.”

Born and raised in Kato

Imm was born the daughter of a newspaperman. Her dad, in addition to being a civic leader, was editor of the Mankato News, a small daily paper in town that went away when Sen. Imm no longer wanted to put the paper out.

His daughter worked for the paper, too, she said, putting in time in various aspects of the newspaper business, including writing.

She attended high school at Bethany, back in the days when the college included a Lutheran-based high school. When she was done with Bethany, she went to Mankato Teachers College. But eventually she wanted to see the world. So she left Mankato, more or less, for good.

Travel

After college she toured Europe, hitting 13 countries before heading home. She found work in New York working for a fashion magazine. She also did some teaching in the Adirondacks.

A phone call from her sister, however, changed her life. She called Imm from her home in Fort Worth, begging her to come visit.

Imm visited. And never left.

She tried finding work at the two daily newspapers in Dallas, the Morning News, and the Times-Herald, but had no luck. Instead she went to work for a fashion industry publication.

Taking that job put her on the path to the Dallas social scene. Her performance for that little publication caught the eye of the Times-Herald, which eventually offered her a job as its society reporter.

Journalistic history

Imm’s journalism career in Dallas was one decorated with writing awards and celebrity parties.

She won awards for her coverage of abused and neglected children. Her series of articles prompted the Dallas city government to investigate the issue and make changes in its social welfare system.

Imm also won awards for her society coverage and for headlines she wrote.

Perhaps bigger rewards for her, though, were the friendships she gathered while covering high society.

“They all became my friends,” Imm said. “And I have some wonderful friends.”

In one prominent brush with fame, Imm found herself playing a key role in how the media covered the JFK assassination.

Kennedy had been gunned down, and journalists had gathered at the hospital to await news on his condition.

In a flash, Imm, having just obtained the news the world was waiting to hear, rushed through a crowd of waiting journalists, grabbed a phone and shouted into it that two priests had confirmed the worst about the assassination attempt.

Moments later, this dispatch was sent over The Associated Press wire service: “Flash: Dallas — Two priests who were with Kennedy say he is dead of bullet wounds.”

It wouldn’t be her last presidential encounter. In a collection of photos she provided, she’s shown with President Lyndon Johnson, and a more recent photo showing Imm and her husband with Jeb and George W. Bush.

Beyond journalism

Imm married Fouad A. Bashour, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center. Together they founded the university’s Fouad A. and Val Imm Bashour Distinguished Chair in Physiology. The program was designed to help encourage and foster research by younger faculty members.

That spirit of giving, it seems, is still within her.

Imm recently came to Bethany Lutheran College to meet with some of its students. She met with students in the communications program, some of whom may receive scholarship money from her endowment.

“There’s nothing more energizing,” she said, “than to connect with young people who have the fire in the belly for achievement.”

Imm declined to disclose how much money she’d given the college.

Lance Schwartz, Bethany’s director of marketing and public relations, simply said, “It’s a nice scholarship. The college is very pleased.”

While in town, she also visited Minnesota State University, where she combed through the library’s archives and materials they’ve catalogued pertaining to her father.

Sen. Imm was instrumental in planning and lobbying for the construction of MSU’s highland campus. The university’s Val Imm collection contains nine boxes of information regarding Imm’s political career. He served as a representative and senator in the state Legislature from 1932 to 1965. Imm also owned, edited and published The Mankato News from 1926 to 1957.

Also while in town, Imm visited the houses she lived in while growing up in Mankato. All still remain, including one that, when she drove by, had a front yard littered with children’s toys.

While in her old North Fourth Street neighborhood, she visited Mocol’s store.

“We had the best conversation,” she said of the Mocols. “They told me how much dad meant to them. They expressed such affection. And that meant a lot to me.”