It was a good day for Marble Falls when Marc and Carolyn Seriff decided to retire here after successful business careers. Marc was one of the founders of the fabulously successful America On Line (AOL), and helped make it into the household name it is today. Carolyn had a great career of her own in the broadcasting and data communication business. Together, they make a wonderful team.

Boys and Girls Club

Since moving here in 1996, they have been very active in community projects, and have formed a foundation to help non-profit organizations help people (called, naturally enough, the Seriff Foundation).

One of their most visible achievements is the establishment of a top-notch Boys and Girls Club to, as the mission statement puts it, "offer a safe and positive place for all young people to enhance their lives by providing the opportunity to realize their full potential in school, in their homes and in the community." Carolyn, especially, has devoted much time and energy to achieving that goal.

Of course, the Seriffs didn’t do it all by themselves. In fact, the idea came from local health club owner Fermin Ortiz, who had himself benefited tremendously as a troubled youngster from the Boys and Girls Clubs, and who as a young man had run a successful club in Corpus Christi. When the local newspaper reported Ortiz’ dream of forming a club in the Highland Lakes area, Marc and Carolyn Seriff were eager to help.

At a meeting in 1998, Ortiz convinced the Seriffs of the potential value for a Boys & Girls Club in the area. They pledged a sizable contribution along with a matching fund donation to get the building started. Marc also wrote letters to many of his AOL business associates about the Club and accumulated close to $200,000 support for the building effort.

John Racz is a "retired" construction manager (read, "full-time volunteer") who had just finished a new living facility for the Family Crisis Center and who, prior to that, had worked on the construction an ...

Read the entirety of this article in the print edition.

Subscribe online — it's quick and easy