We thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories.
While most people believe in payback, Fern Ward believes in paying forward, and her recent, generous charitable gift annuity to the College of Engineering’s Department of Computer Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) is her way of doing just that.
“Many of my friends are in education. I think it’s a good idea for others my age to think of this sort of thing as (investing in) the future,” she said. “We can help support some of these kids that are striving for an education. I really believe it’s a wonderful thing to do.
“After high school, college was about the farthest thing from my mind because it was during the Depression,” Fern continued. “I took a job with a CPA’s office, and they paid $10 a week. I finally saved up $100 that I could pay for the tuition and books. In my graduating class from college, there were 28 of us, so it was kind of an unheard thing because no one went to college back then.”
Immediately after graduation from Arizona State Teacher’s College (Arizona University) in Flagstaff, Fern married Brewer Ward, whom she had met in the first week of college. Following his service in the Signal Corps during WWII and the completion of a master’s degree in education from CSULB in 1953, Brewer worked as the director of personnel for the Compton School District until his retirement. He passed away in April 2004.
During the war, Fern taught business courses at the local high school in Superior, Ariz. and later, when she and Brewer moved to California, she taught kindergarten at Los Cerritos Elementary School in Paramount. Their children, Connie and Brewer, Jr. (Bob), also became educators. Bob is a full-time lecturer in the CECS department, and Connie teaches second grade at Pat Nixon Elementary School in Cerritos.
Fern and Brewer also shared a passion for education through travel, and in 1961, the couple and their two junior high-aged children spent six months touring through Western Europe in a camper van. Following his retirement, Brewer led over 70 “Traveling Tiger Tours” from the Galapagos Islands to Iceland and many points in between. Fern is continuing to travel with Bob and Connie, who have inherited this family trait.
While providing financial assistance to CSULB, a charitable gift annuity offers the donor a guaranteed lifetime income along with a tax benefit. Fern’s contribution to the CECS department will help support student organizations.
“There are benefits to both sides,” commented Michael Mahoney, dean of the College of Engineering. “And the number of lives it can affect is inspiring. By establishing the Ward Student Support Fund, Fern is helping to ensure that the entire Ward family's dedication to education is honored for years to come.”
Dr. Mary Jo Lass exudes positive energy every time she talks about education. She was born in Oklahoma but didn’t spend much time there. Her family moved around quite a bit before settling in California in 1944. If there is a common theme running through Mary Jo’s life it is the value of education. From an early age she excelled in academics; “It was my job to go to school and get involved,” she explains. “My whole family supported me and my interests.” She attended Compton High School and graduated with honors. After a year at Compton Junior College, she received scholastic scholarships and in 1951 she went on to earn her BA at George Pepperdine College. “My college years were really exciting,” Mary Jo lights up as she tells her story. “The veterans were returning from the war and going to college. There were four guys for every girl. These guys raised the standard for education. They were experienced and very focused—the G.I. bill changed this country.”
Mary Jo married at 19 and decided to stay in school to become a teacher. This was hardly the norm back then. Many women during this time married and then quit school to become home-makers. Back then, many of the female teachers had to choose between getting married and working. It was assumed that these women could not do both jobs and the time spent teaching would take time away from family responsibilities. Mary Jo never let this stop her from achieving her goals of being part of the education system. “I was 23 years old and working as a vice principal in a Long Beach elementary school. Soon after I started working I began pursuing my Master’s degree at Long Beach State.” She was awarded her Master’s in Education in 1954 but didn’t stop there; Mary Jo then earned her Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Southern California in 1966.
Mary Jo Lass was hired as a full-time faculty member at CSULB and stayed true to her philosophy of education being the greatest value. When asked why she chose a career in education a sparkle jumps from her eyes and her voice softens; “Teaching was a way to affect the world.” She explains it like this; “I taught classes full of teachers or future teachers. There were at least 25 students in a class and I taught four classes a semester—that’s 100 students. Each of those students taught classes of 25 students, so each semester I had the potential to touch 2,500 lives. It’s a ripple effect—one person can change the world…through education.”
Mary Jo is retired now but she is still involved in education. She is a Professor Emeritus, working on curriculum committees, publishing, and advising on various CSULB programs. Another way Mary Jo continues to support her love of education is through her various donations and gifts to CSULB students. She has made some charitable gift annuities and endowed several scholarships. “When you attend a college or a university it plays a role in your formation…it becomes a part of who you are.” She explains why she donates to CSULB. “It started as a way to honor my mother and father,” Mary Jo describes the Mike and Juanita Lass Memorial Endowment; “Flowers are nice, but they fade. This will never fade…and it keeps them alive.” (October 2008 CCPE Interview)
Phyllis Mitchell and David Sanfilippo, Director of Disabled Student Services
Phyllis Mitchell wanted to be a teacher. When her attorney suggested establishing a charitable gift annuity for her favorite charity, she thought about helping teachers. She selected California State University, Long Beach because of its excellent programs for educators.
“Circumstances prevented me from attending college, but I believe strongly in the importance of scholarships and helping young people,” said Mrs. Mitchell. “I also enjoy coming to campus to attend events and having the opportunity to meet the many bright and talented students at CSULB.”
In 1999, John and Phyllis Mitchell established the first of four charitable gift annuities with CSULB. The remainder from the gift annuities will create the John E. and Phyllis Mitchell Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit undergraduate and graduate students majoring in education.
“A charitable gift annuity is a wonderful way to support CSULB,” said Mrs. Mitchell. “We made an irrevocable gift and in exchange we receive income for life. I don’t think people realize the benefits of a gift annuity. You receive a charitable deduction and the annual payout is much higher than my other investments. Besides the financial benefits, I believe our gift annuities with CSULB are an investment in our country’s future by educating the next generation.”
Thanks to Friends like Bruce and Joanie Harris, CSULB Is Strong and Moving Forward.
For Bruce and Joanie Harris, becoming members of the CSULB Legacy Society is their way of giving back to CSULB. With their estate gift, the Harrises will provide financial aid to student therapists in Communicative Disorders and Kinesiology so that stroke victims like Bruce will continue to receive the quality care student interns offer at CSULB clinics.
The stories below are samples for illustration purposes only and do not represent actual donors.
We're getting a little older and we find ourselves thinking about the future a lot more than we used to. Not just our future and that of our children, but also the future of CSULB, an organization we’ve believed in and supported for so many years. We want to be sure that it will still be doing its job long after we’re gone. So, a few years ago, we decided it was time to start making definite plans to help ensure our favorite charity’s future as well as that of our family.
We started gathering information right here, at this website. Then, we talked to our financial advisors and to the staff at CSULB. We spent a rainy Sunday afternoon at home with a calculator, a legal pad, and a pile of mutual fund statements.
After looking over the different gift plans available to us, we decided that a Charitable Gift Annuity was right for us. We were reassured that it would pay us income for the rest of our lives – in a fixed amount that we could depend on, and at a higher yield than our CDs or mutual funds were providing us. We liked the income tax deduction we could claim for setting up our Gift Annuity, and also the fact that part of our annuity income would come to us tax-free.
Best of all, our Gift Annuity has allowed us to make a larger gift to CSULB than we would ever have been able to make in an outright gift or through our estate. We’re very satisfied with our decision!
I bought a lot of life insurance when our family was young. Wanted to be sure that Bev and our children would be taken care of should anything unexpected happen to me.
Well, I’m still around, thank goodness. Our children are grown and settled, and Bev and I did little better financially than we ever thought would be possible when we were starting out. Truth is, our family no longer needed all the life insurance coverage I was carrying for them.
That excess insurance was really an asset that was no longer productive for us. We talked about it with our accountant, and she said that we could donate some policies to our favorite charity – CSULB. We would receive an income tax deduction approximately equal to the cash surrender value of the policies, which would come in very handy at tax time.
CSULB could either cash in the policies and use the funds for current projects, or hold them for the death benefits they will pay when we die.
It was a win-win result: we were able to help CSULB out significantly, but we did it by using assets we had almost forgotten about, and in a way that didn’t affect our cash-flow or our family’s security.
