About the Founders

The Tocker Foundation was created in 1964 to implement the philanthropic interests of Phillip and Olive Tocker. Phillip Tocker was a practicing attorney, but changed careers in his later years when he purchased the Waco outdoor advertising plant and later expanded to own outdoor advertising plants throughout the United States. His vocational career culminated to the position of President of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America. After retiring to Austin Texas in 1973, Phillip and Olive Tocker actively pursued their avocations.

Phillip and Olive Tocker endowed the foundation with their estates in 1994 and 1993 respectively. After years of supporting a wide range of community-based causes, the foundation discovered a need in small, rural Texas libraries serving populations of 12,000 or less. In 1992 the foundation board decided to focus grant distributions in this way. The foundation partners with community libraries to meet the particular needs of the community.
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Olive and Philip Tocker
Don Tocker Library in Israel
As a young man of 20 years, Don Tocker moved to Israel in 1971 to work the land and later become a founding member of Kibbutz Ketura in Southern Israel. His vision and leadership was an inspiration for all who encountered him. It was a terrible loss when, in 1976, just as he was spearheading a new venture for the kibbutz and preparing for university studies, his life was cut short in an automobile accident. To honor his memory and his dedication to life on the kibbutz, Don’s family members at the Tocker Foundation decided to fund a library at Kibbutz Ketura. The new building was dedicated in 2003.
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Library at Kibbutz Ketura, Israel