"Oh, Hugh—you still have that plaid sportcoat." Looking through the scrapbooks of Bette Lynn and Hugh K. Frederick's community service is like looking back in El Paso's history. Political campaigns, the Texas Chamber of Commerce, the Assistance League, Leadership El Paso, and many more. In nearly thirty-five years in El Paso, the Fredericks have been involved at almost every level.

They came here from Dallas, where young Hugh, a native of Kansas, was working as a banker. He was introduced by a friend to Bette Lynn. They married in Dallas, Bette Lynn’s hometown.

Hugh was recruited to El Paso in 1971 to be president of the American Bank of Commerce—locally owned and held. "Most of us my age really liked those kind of banks, because that's what we knew. We liked to be a part of them,” remembers Hugh. He retired in 1991 from the American Bank of Commerce, and sat on the board of several banks in El Paso and Scottsdale before he retired for good.

As Bette Lynn knits (and carefully counts the loops), she talks about why they chose to settle down in El Paso. “People, weather, community. There’s no place else I would rather be,” says Bette Lynn Frederick. Hugh nods with approval. “We still support all that is going on, and there is a lot going on,” he adds.

Bette Lynn and Hugh Frederick have given a good part of their lives to El Paso’s success, and see it paying off every day. Among their dividends is the El Paso Community Foundation. Hugh is proud to have been the third Chairman of the Board of the El Paso Foundation, and the Fredericks have a fund in the Foundation. The Hugh K. and Bette Lynn Frederick Fund for the College of Business at UTEP is the Frederick’s Great Gift to El Paso. They consider it a strong investment. “It isn’t always altruistic. We build our community, and it comes back every time.”