Meet Our Donors

We thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.

Crocker Howe Family Philanthropy Through the Generations

When asked why he gives to the Cortland College Foundation in support of SUNY Cortland, Robert Crocker Howe, member of the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors and its former secretary, refers to his mother’s influence.

“My mother, a strong believer in education always taught me to give back to society,” explains Howe. “As a single, divorced parent, she went to Cortland State summer school and received her degree and New York State teaching certificate. My love for her and memory of her achievement make Cortland so special to me. If I can help, then that’s a win-win situation--for me and for the students who benefit.”

The Crockers moved from Chicago to Cortland in 1913 when family patriarch, Glyndon H. Crocker Sr. established the Crescent Corset Company. As president and general manager, Glyndon was a prominent community leader, philanthropist and agriculturist in Cortland. Meanwhile, Glyndon’s daughter, Myrl Rose Crocker Howe, was destined to become a teacher.

She attended the Emma Willard School in Troy, N.Y. and the Lucy Wheelock School, now known as Wheelock College, in Boston, Mass. Upon completion of her training, she taught at the National Park School in New Jersey and at the Potomac School in Washington, D.C. She was asked to return to New York by McGraw Elementary Principal Leroy Baer. She returned to Cortland to earn her teaching certificate in 1961 and taught elementary school at McGraw until her retirement in 1972.

“Children and teaching children was her forté,” Howe fondly remarked about his mother. “My mother’s philosophy was that her first responsibility was to the child, not to the principal or the parent. Children always came first and she had very high standards. She frequently said that the history of the race goes forth on the feet of little children.”

Whether she was shopping at the Family Bargain Center to make Dick and Jane dolls for a reading lesson or sending Robert’s stuffed alligator home to give each child a responsibility and return with a story about the toy, Mryl Rose was always looking for teachable moments.

Before her passing, Myrl Rose talked to Robert about establishing a scholarship for students from McGraw. In 1998, Howe created two scholarships for those who wish to become elementary school teachers. The first is for McGraw High School graduates attending Cortland and the second recognizes Myrl Rose’s accomplishments as a working, single parent by extending scholarship opportunities to other single parents.

In addition to his current gifts to the College, SUNY Cortland expresses its gratitude to Howe for remembering the College with a planned bequest. The College honors Howe through membership in the Lofty Elm Society, named after the Alma Mater, which holds special events for members twice a year.

"Bob’s witty banter keeps everyone smiling and on their toes,” says Peter VanderWoude, manager of planned gifts. “ He thoroughly understands philanthropy and we are most appreciative to have him address our incoming students at SUNY Cortland’s academic convocation each fall.”

Daughter’s Planned Giving Will Help Future Students Fulfill Dream

Neither Wendy Foldes nor anyone in her family has attended or worked for SUNY Cortland. Foldes comes from the school of hard knocks. But she thinks that having a college education is important, which is why she has made a bequest in her will to make it easier for students to attend SUNY Cortland.

“Education is super important,” noted Foldes, who grew up in Endwell, N.Y. “I attended the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut and left before the end of my first semester. It was just not my cup of tea. Someone asked me about 20 or more years ago now where I received my master’s degree and I burst out laughing and said, ‘Street Junior College and Real Life University.’ It has worked well for me, but I encourage young people to get a degree.”

Foldes, who lives in Sarasota, Fla., and turned 60 this past year, reviewed her estate to decide how she would divide it up after she is deceased. She decided that a percentage would go to fund a scholarship in her mother’s name at SUNY Cortland to help a student who wants to major in physical education and has financial need.

“Wendy first contacted me through SUNY Cortland’s planned giving Web site,” said Peter VanderWoude, manager of planned gifts for the Cortland College Foundation. “I was able to help her designate her future gift with proper wording so that her mother’s memory would be honored with a scholarship.”

“My mother, Gladys ‘Peg’ Foldes, grew up in Schenectady, N.Y., and she wanted to become a physical education teacher,” Foldes said. “When she graduated from high school during the Depression, there was no money for her to go to college. I was thinking about my mother’s life and thought it would be nice to establish a scholarship in her name.”

When considering where she would name in her estate plans, Foldes thought about Cortland.

“I grew up in Endwell and many of my friends were in the class of 1969 at SUNY Cortland,” Foldes said. “Mom never mentioned a specific school, but Cortland has a great reputation for training teachers and it is close to both of mom’s homes.”

Since Foldes included the Cortland College Foundation in her estate plans, she is recognized through the Lofty Elm Society, named after the first verse in the Alma Mater. Members — composed of alumni, faculty, staff, emeriti and friends — are honored by the College and invited to campus twice a year for a recognition dinner and a performing arts play.

“Wendy Foldes adopted SUNY Cortland and, in turn, we have adopted her,” said VanderWoude.

Foldes attended the Lofty Elm Society dinner this past April and hopes to make it to the College once a year to attend the event.

“This scholarship is special because my mother couldn’t afford to go to school and she was a very bright woman and a good athlete,” said Foldes. “If this scholarship even helps one person it will be worth it.”

“SUNY Cortland is very grateful for friends, like Wendy Foldes, who have planned an ultimate gift for the College,” VanderWoude said. “Planned gifts such as Wendy’s will make the dream of a SUNY Cortland education for future students in physical education.”

In 1965, Foldes applied to SUNY Cortland after graduating from Maine-Endwell (N.Y.) High School. Her mother wanted her to become a teacher, but after attending college for a semester she decided that it was not going to work for her.

"I was a real gypsy,” she said. “That’s where I learned what I know through living, different jobs, cities and people. I had 24 jobs and 26 addresses in 22 years. I came to the Sarasota area, where my parents retired, and became a licensed real estate broker, something that I still do full time.”

Foldes, the youngest of her parents’ three children, has lived in Florida for more than 21 years.

“My parents were great travelers,” Foldes said. “My mom wanted to go back to Bali after my father passed in 2001, so we signed up for a tour. Then Sept. 11 happened and when I asked if she still wanted to travel she said, ‘darn tootin’ I still want to go.’ It was a beautiful island. I stayed in touch with two of the guides and decided that I had to go back.”

In 2005, Peg Foldes passed away. In September 2008, Wendy went back to Bali where she saw her old friends and made new ones. This time around, Foldes chose to spread her philanthropy around more by making a promise to assist her friends on the island.

After returning home, Foldes is looking to fulfill part of her mother’s wish that she become a teacher by inquiring about becoming certified to teach English as a second language.

Clarks Launch Lofty Elm Society

For those who have honored the Cortland College Foundation with a planned gift, SUNY Cortland expresses its gratitude with membership in the recently organized Lofty Elm Society.

The society receives its name from the first verse in SUNY Cortland’s Alma Mater.

Two charter members are SUNY Cortland President Emeritus James M. Clark, who retired in 1995 after 16 years of service, and his wife, Patricia.

“For those who treasure their years at Cortland College as Pat and I do, planned giving through the Lofty Elm Society is a convenient and even advantageous way to make it possible for future generations to enjoy the special benefits of our beloved tree-shaded college on the hill,” noted the former president. “It is a way for us to help the College maintain its remarkable quality long after we are gone.”

Planned gifts that qualify for Lofty Elm Society membership includes naming the Cortland College Foundation as a beneficiary of one’s will, trust or retirement plan; gifts of real estate with a retained life arrangement; and life income gifts such as the charitable gift annuity or charitable trust. There is no minimum gift requirement.

SUNY Cortland expresses its appreciation to Lofty Elm Society members through recognition in College publications, invitations to special events and a beautifully designed Lofty Elm Society lapel pin.

Kleinspehn Jumpstarts Charitable Gift Annuity Program

An alumna with boundless energy and love for SUNY Cortland, Rose Marie Luppino Kleinspehn ’49 has coordinated the Post-World War II reunions since their inception in the late 1980s.

“Rose Marie cares about people,” notes Doug DeRancy, Executive Director of Alumni Affairs. “She maintains constant contact with her classmates, especially if they are ill or have lost a loved one.”

She and her late husband, Ralph Kleinspehn ’48, who passed away in 2003, spent their professional careers in the Fillmore, (N.Y.) Central School District. Together, they raised two daughters. Today, Rose Marie is focused on her grandchildren, travel business and, of course, her alma mater.

When Rose Marie learned about the new charitable gift annuity program in the fall of 2004, she quickly established SUNY Cortland’s first gift annuity. Her generosity will ultimately benefit the program of her choice at the College.

“Giving back to my beloved College brings me great happiness,” explains Rose Marie Kleinspehn. “Helping SUNY Cortland, while helping myself, just seems to me to be a logical satisfying move.”

Following Kleinspehn’s example, many other SUNY Cortland alumni and emeriti have generously stepped forward to establish their own charitable gift annuities.

“If one has charitable intent towards the College, but needs current income, the charitable gift annuity deserves to be investigated,” says Peter VanderWoude, manager of the planned giving program at SUNY Cortland. “We can provide a charitable gift illustration that shows the gift annuity income, paid for life, and current tax benefits.”

“In these financially turbulent times, I’m glad to be able to count on my charitable gift annuity to help me during my retirement,” states Kleinspehn. "The payments come like clockwork every quarter direct to my bank account.”

Mascias Establish Planned Gift to Fund Scholarship

Pursuing the opportunities that life presents to you, while maintaining strong bonds with family and friends, is what Vincent ’53 and Roberta Miller Mascia ’53 have been doing since they set foot on campus several decades ago.

Vince, a three-sport athlete from Buffalo, who entered the C-Club Hall of Fame in 2004, and Bobbie, an active student with an engaging smile from Baldwinsville, first met as freshman physical education majors in Dr. Baisler’s psychology class.

“Our whole freshman class was relatively small and everyone knew everyone else,” Bobbie reminisces. “What fun! We made a lot of lasting friends!”

After graduation, Bobbie began teaching for Richfield Springs Cooperative Board and later joined Vince in Texas where he was a Navy pilot. Their five children came quickly thereafter while they moved from Texas to California, Florida and New York. Vince’s sales career eventually took his family to Illinois, Massachusetts and back to Florida, where he started a company manufacturing chemical adhesives, sealants and coatings for the electronics industry.

Through all the moves, the Mascia’s five children became very close and remain so today. They all worked together in the family company until it was sold a few years ago.

“The faculty and staff at Cortland prepared us for the opportunities that came our way,” said Vince, who recently began serving as a director on the Cortland College Foundation Board.

The Mascias both stay active by helping their daughter, Kathy, and her husband operate an Atlanta Bread Company franchise and Vince continues to enjoy flying airplanes.

“When Vince and I recall our time at Cortland, we both felt the need to help future Cortland students experience the same kind of education that we received,” noted Bobbie. “That is why we have taken advantage of the charitable gift annuity program through the Cortland College Foundation.”

“Our gift in exchange for a charitable gift annuity gives us an attractive annuity payment for life,” Vince explains. “It also gives us a current tax deduction and the balance of the annuity when we pass on will fund the “Vincent J. Mascia ’53 and Roberta M. Mascia ’53 Scholarship” for SUNY Cortland students with financial need.”

SUNY Cortland expresses its gratitude to the Mascias by honoring them as members in the Lofty Elm Society where they join other generous alumni and friends of SUNY Cortland who have remembered the College in their estate plans. These future estate gifts will allow SUNY Cortland students to receive a remarkable and affordable education for years to come.

Travers’ Passion for SUNY Cortland Reflects Lofty Elm’s Membership

When Donald Traver ‘59 and Donna Bell Traver ‘59 first met as wide-eyed SUNY Cortland undergraduates, they had no idea how important the College would be to their personal fulfillment and professional achievement over the next 50 years.

“Virtually everything we have today can be attributed to our years at Cortland, “ explains Donna.

The two physical education majors worked hard to earn their SUNY Cortland degree and were married after Don finished his military service. Eventually, Donald taught science and became a guidance counselor in the Webster (N.Y.) School District, while Donna devoted her career to teaching elementary students in the Pittsford (N.Y.) School District.

“We were not exceptional students or exceptional athletes at Cortland, but we came out as good teachers,” said Donald. “I think our school districts would agree.”

As part of their Cortland education, both Don and Donna had the opportunity to take classes at the Outdoor Education Center at Raquette Lake. That experience led them to pursue a passion for the outdoors, which has included viewing nearly 5,000 species of birds in their natural habitats located across the world.

The Travers have also demonstrated a fervor for giving future SUNY Cortland students the same opportunities they enjoyed at their alma mater. Don and Donna have endowed a scholarship for physical education majors, as well as a program fund for student interns in any major at Raquette Lake. Most recently, they established a new program fund to help fund physical education students to participate in their required field practicum at the Outdoor Education Center.

“We have also included the College in our estate plans to help provide similar opportunities for future students,” noted Donna. “The Cortland College Foundation is a beneficiary of our retirement plans and a beneficiary of our remaining estate.”

SUNY Cortland has expressed its gratitude to Don and Donna Traver by recognizing them as charter members of the Lofty Elm Society. They join more than 100 other individuals who have now created a planned gift or have included the College as a beneficiary of their estate plans.

Baldwin Plans Unrestricted Gift

Joseph C. Baldwin '60 ardently believes in New York State's system of public higher education.

"When I went to Cortland, there was no tuition, and when I joined SUNY Oneonta’s English Department as a professor in 1964, there was still no tuition charged to students in the state university," Baldwin observed. "Those days certainly provided increased access for students, whereas today, the colleges are less and less financed by the state and students are emerging with huge loans they have to pay off for many years."

Recently, as he approached his 44th year at Oneonta with no thoughts of retirement in the near future, he nevertheless decided it was time to make plans to give something back to the system that has nurtured him professionally and personally all these years.

Accordingly, the professor has included in his estate an unrestricted gift to SUNY Cortland by naming the Cortland College Foundation as a beneficiary of his retirement account.

"I think it's a good way to contribute to the College," said Baldwin. He wanted to make a donation free of any restrictions in order for the College to use the monies where they are most needed.

“Choosing retirement plan assets to give an estate gift to the Cortland College Foundation makes a lot of sense,” explains Peter VanderWoude, the College's planned gifts manager. “No income taxes will be paid on retirement dollars bequeathed to the College. This avoids federal income taxes of as much as 35 percent if a child or other heir received the assets as a beneficiary of the retirement account. When prioritizing assets to bequeath through your estate, it is best to give other assets to your heirs.”

Upon graduation, Baldwin earned his M.A. from the University of Arkansas - then another tuition-free state higher education system - and completed additional graduate work at the University of Arkansas, SUNY Geneseo, Seton Hall University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Currently teaching half time at SUNY Oneonta, during the fall semester Baldwin maintains a full course load and devotes the balance of the year to travel and voluntary activities. He recently completed a tour of Japan, Mainland China and Thailand. Baldwin is associated with Rotary Camp Onseyawa, a camp for challenged children on Seneca Lake, which he has served as senior counselor for 40 years. He is active in public school mentoring, the Big/Little Buddy program and serves as an elections inspector.

"I had a wonderful experience at Cortland," he said, recalling one mentor with particular fondness, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English Van A. Burd. He adds, "I was on the Hilltop Masquers production crew or in the cast of every play from 1957-60." Born in Cortland, he also remembers Wava McGrath and Ina Hayes, his first and second grade teachers at the former Campus School.

“SUNY Cortland is very grateful for the generous bequest that Mr. Baldwin has provided for his alma mater through the Cortland College Foundation,” notes VanderWoude. “Joseph Baldwin is a leader by example and through his action, becomes a member of SUNY Cortland's Lofty Elm Society, which recognizes all who have provided an estate or other planned gift for the College.”