The family of an inventive Boise couple has decided to make a major set of donations to two local ‘blue’ institutions.
Allen T. and Billie Dee Noble will donate $25 million each to St. Luke’s Health System and Boise State University Athletics.
Billie Dee Noble died in 2017, and her husband Allen died in 2021. Both were Idaho natives who went from roots in potato farming to an early bet on Micron Technology.
Allen Noble was born in Idaho Falls in and grew up on a farm in Kuna. Like his friend J.R. Simplot, Noble grew potatoes. He invented technology that helped irrigate fields with self-propelled machinery.
In the late 1970s, the founders of Micron Technology left their offices in the basement of a dentist’s office on Ustick Rd. and went to lunch with Noble, Ronald C. Yanke and Thomas T. Nicholson.
They asked for $300,000 in early seed money. Their early investment then helped bring in Simplot. Today, Micron is worth $110.45 billion.
Noble met Billie Dee Jolley Johnson and married her in 1965. The couple had seven children and have 22 grandchildren and 54 great-grandchildren.
“Today, we are pleased and honored to announce the gifts from Allen T. and Billie Dee Noble of $25 million to Boise State football and $25 million to the St. Luke’s Health Foundation,” the Noble family wrote in a statement.
“The family is excited to see the impact that these contributions can have on the future of these two programs.”
For St. Luke’s, CEO Chris Roth said the gift is a game changer.
“It is a rare moment to receive a selfless gift that will help alter the trajectory of health and well-being for communities across our state,” St. Luke’s President and CEO Chris Roth said.
“Words of gratitude all seem insufficient to properly convey the impact this gift by the estate of Allen and Billie Dee Noble will have on Idahoans for generations to come. Legacy gifts play a critical role in helping us improve the health of people in the communities we serve, and we are profoundly grateful.”
For Boise State, the dollars are earmarked for the school’s football programs. The Nobles were longstanding, significant donors to the school, and Allen Noble’s name graces the school’s hall of fame on the corner of the football stadium complex.
It is the largest single gift in the school’s history.
“We are extremely grateful to Allen, Billie Dee and their entire family for this extraordinary gift,” Boise State Athletics Director Jeramiah Dickey said.
“This transformational gift by the ultimate Bronco family only shows the belief the family has in us and Bronco Nation. Our goal is to take this incredible legacy and continue to positively impact the lives of present and future Broncos!”
Dickey told BoiseDev the money has not been earmarked for anything specific in the football program, but “that will come at some point.”