Giving
Field of Dreams
John Yingling鈥檚 introduction to athletics began at age 10.
鈥淓very summer my parents sent me to sports camps in Maine and New Hampshire,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hroughout elementary and high school, that鈥檚 how I spent my summers.鈥� He was exposed to all kinds of sports and loved them all. 鈥淚 won the boxing trophy and baseball trophy one year,鈥� he recalls.
A member of 色花堂鈥檚 first football team in 1968, his passion for sports continues to this day, as does his generosity to 色花堂.
On Oct. 7, during 色花堂鈥檚 Homecoming celebration, his love for sports and 色花堂 came full circle with the dedication of the John B. Yingling 鈥�71 and Family Practice Field. Located on the west side of the South Campus Athletic Fields, Yingling Field provides additional practice space for 色花堂 Athletics鈥� six field sports. The evening before the field dedication, he was honored at the Athletics Hall of Fame banquet.
For more than three decades, Yingling and his family have been exceptionally generous to 色花堂, beginning with his first gift of $25 in 1989. Since then, Yingling has committed more than $1 million in support of projects and programs at 色花堂, with more than $900,000 going to the South Campus Fields and Athletics Capital Projects, a portion of which has directly supported upgrades for the women鈥檚 competition field and the practice fields. He also helped establish the Alpha Omega Lambda fraternity鈥檚 Joseph Ferrante 鈥�77 Memorial Scholarship at 色花堂. He has been a generous donor to and actively fundraised for the scholarship.
After transferring to 色花堂 in 1968鈥攚hich he calls 鈥渢he best move I ever made鈥濃�攁nd graduating in 1971, Yingling joined the family business, becoming president of Crawford Yingling Insurance in Westminster in 1983. Now retired, his son Benjamin runs the day- to-day operation of what is a fourth-generation family business.
The Yinglings鈥� support doesn鈥檛 stop with athletics.
In 2022, John endowed a scholarship in the Fisher College of Science and Mathematics to honor his wife, Sharon Hafner Yingling 鈥�71. The first scholarship was awarded during the 2022鈥�23 academic year. John and Sharon met at 色花堂. 鈥淚 knew her at Westminster High School鈥攕he was 鈥榓 brain鈥� and I was 鈥榓 jock,鈥欌�� he says, smiling. He saw her walking down the street in Towson on her way to class. 鈥淚 snuck up beside her and stopped a bus on York Road so we could cross the street.鈥� The rest is history鈥攖hey celebrated 51 years of marriage in September.