A Man of Culture Leaves a Remarkable Legacy

A casual friendship that began on a European cruise has resulted in a multi-million dollar gift for City of Hope.

Walter Oppenheimer, who died in August, 2008, at age 92, provided a $2 million bequest in honor of his late wife, Helga. Throughout his life, Oppenheimer supported numerous academic and medical centers. His contributions to City of Hope arose through a friendship with one of the institution’s most committed advocates, Andy Spiegl.

Oppenheimer first met Spiegl, a member of City of Hope’s medical center board of directors and board of regents, on a cruise on the Danube River in the early 1990s. After the trip, their friendship grew and Spiegl told the Oppenheimers about City of Hope. Spiegl accompanied Oppenheimer on a campus tour, where they visited the pediatric unit. The pair discussed the institution’s storied history within the Jewish community. Not long after the tour, Oppenheimer made his financial commitments to City of Hope. 

The Oppenheimers enjoyed a full life together. After immigrating to the United States in 1938, they settled in New York City, and began working in retail. The couple later moved to San Francisco where they started a successful business. An apparel designer by trade, Oppenheimer launched Helga Inc., a line of women’s special-occasion clothing, with his wife in 1947. In the early 1950s, the two relocated to Los Angeles.

Throughout his career, Oppenheimer traveled extensively in Europe and indulged a passion for art, collecting works by George Braque, Pablo Picasso and other modern European masters. Oppenheimer donated scores of valuable works of art to the Hammer Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Oppenheimer collected not just art, but lifelong friends, to which Spiegl readily attests. “He was a very kind and fine gentleman,” Spiegl said. “His warmth and generosity truly was a gift to everyone he met.”