Photo by Wyatt Kostygan

Sarasota philanthropist Charles Barancik, co-founder of the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation, died in car crash on Longboat Key Wednesday evening. He was 91. 

The Foundation Thursday night confirmed wife Margery Barancik, 83, died from injuries in the same collission.

Police say around 6 pm, a Longboat Key Police patrol vehicle traveling south on Gulf of Mexico Drive collided with a Tesla driven by Barancik as it was pulling onto the road from a private residence. Barancik was pronounced dead at the scene.

Margery Barancik was also in the vehicle and transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital with serious injuries, and died the following evening. The police officer involved in the crash was also taken to the hospital and has not been identified.

The Baranciks were and continue to be an enormous force in philanthropy within the Sarasota-Bradenton region. The couple founded their namesake foundation in 2014 and have played an active role in decisions for the organization.

During an interview with SRQ Media Group this year, Chuck Barancik explained he originally planned to set up an endowment with a more common structure, with money going to a foundation after his and his wife’s death, but he became convinced speaking with local philanthropic leaders it would be better to form the foundation now and see the work in their lifetimes. That ultimately allowed more than five years of active engagement with the star staff recruited there.

The Baranciks remained regular participant in board meetings addressing the work and mission of the foundation. Chuck Barancik told SRQ he would apply the lessons from his time in the business world to philanthropy. “Do they really fit what we’re trying to do? What's their risk-reward ratio? Would we see an immediate return on investment?” he would ask.

He was especially proud of success with a Reading Recovery program in local schools funded largely with Barancik money. “It’s been told to us, our board, that if a child leaves third grade not able to read at a third-grade level, you’ve lost them. They’ll never catch up,” he said. “Is this 100 percent true? Probably not, but I bet it’s 80 or 90 percent true.”

While Ohio State research see a 75-percent success rate for reading recovery programs using similar prescribed methods, Sarasota schools boasted an 86-percent rate.

The foundation also made investments in health care programs, early education and technology investment in schools.

Chuck Barancik also said he’s made it clear with his children that he won’t be handing down an enormous inheritance. He instead intended his assets to be donated to the foundation following his and Margery’s deaths.

Photo by Wyatt Kostygan