Meet Our DonorsWe thank all our planned-gift donors for their generous support. Here are some of their stories. 
My interest and concern for pristine areas was gradually kindled when, as a youngster, I first saw the Everglades. Read more about The Hunts | Read more about their gift 
The Osbergs decided to use their appreciated real estate to advance the causes in which they believe. Read more about The Osbergs | Read more about their gift 
Ginia Wexler, 26 year Wilderness Society Member If we ruin it, we can't live. It's as simple as that. Read more about Ginia Wexler | Read more about her gift Lawrence and Shirley Hunt My interest and concern for pristine areas was gradually kindled when, as a youngster, I first saw the Everglades. Later, as a graduate student in biology, I read and re-read Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac” and Sigurd Olson’s “The Singing Wilderness,” followed by a camping trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Then last summer in Alaska, America’s last great wilderness, Shirley and I shared the moving experience of spending days in such remote ecosystems as Denali and Glacier Bay National Parks. There we realized that many unique sites such as these would still need our help to protect them from the inroads of modern civilization after we could no longer make annual donations. Previously, Shirley had donated a life insurance policy to TWS and to further prolong our support, we recently made this society the major beneficiary of a charitable remainder annuity trust. These represent our gifts to future wilderness inhabitants. Aldo Leopold, a founder of The Wilderness Society, began the forward to his insightful book with these words, “There are some who can live without wild things, and some who cannot.” The latter group best describes us. Back to Top | Read more about their gift John and Gloria Osberg John and Gloria Osberg are long time residents of Sun Valley, Idaho who recently gifted their home of over 20 years to The Wilderness Society and two other conservation organizations. The Osbergs decided to use their appreciated real estate to advance the causes in which they believe. “The appreciated value of our home was unearned income,” John explained, “and we want to see that appreciated value put to work to protect the Idaho we love and that has enriched our life so very much.” He added, “I see no advantage to holding on to it and being one of the rich guys in the cemetery.” This is why the Osbergs drew up an estate plan that allowed them to donate real estate to non-profit organizations while remaining in their homes as long as they wish. This type of gift provides immediate tax deductions and avoids capital gains tax. The Osbergs initially wished their gift to remain anonymous but were recently urged to change their minds with the hope that sharing their story would inspire others to make similar gifts of appreciated real estate. “I think it feels great,” Osberg says, “to see money doing good things while you are still around to experience it.” The Osbergs have lived and skied in the Sun Valley area for over 50 years. Gloria Osberg worked for Sun Valley and the Union Pacific Railroad during the 1950s and is the author of the popular books Day Hiking Near Sun Valley and Easy Hiking Near Sun Valley, guidebooks that have helped hundreds of visitors and neighbors enjoy our magnificent backcountry. John is an avid skier and long-time member of the Ancient Skiers club from the Seattle area and was involved in the heavy construction business throughout the Pacific Northwest and Alaska. Together they have travelled extensively including many long trips on Arctic rivers and other wilderness adventures. Back to Top | Read more about their gift Ginia Wexler, 26 year Wilderness Society Member At age 90, Ginia Wexler has many special memories. The daughter of band leader Meyer Davis, she became an accomplished singer. "I remember the night that George Gerhswin came to our house after doing a concert," she says. "I was 15 and at one point ended up on his lap. Later, at the piano, he announced to the guests: 'And now Ginia will sing.' We did 'The Man I Love.'" A Philadelphia native who studied drama at Carnegie Mellon, Wexler kicked off her artistic career by playing Gretel in a performance by the Pittsburgh Opera Company. She became an international folk singer with an eclectic repertoire. In the 1950s the State Department sent her on a six-month tour. "I sang in over 20 different languages," she recalls. She did three shows in Kabul, Afghanistan, which she says was "perfectly calm" in those days. Wexler also has memories of singing at the Eisenhower and Kennedy inaugural balls and of belting out "The Star Spangled Banner" at the first televised political convention, in Philadelphia in 1948. She performed with Duke Ellington's band aboard the "S. S. United States" as the super liner steamed toward Paris. "He would sit with me after the show, and he would always have chocolate ice cream with a lemon squeezed on top." After that trip she met a Philadelphia lawyer named Morris Wexler, and they were married for 25 years until his death in 1992. Her mother, a pianist and composer, was from Bar Harbor, Maine, and Wexler started making summer trips to Maine at an early age. She believes that helps account for her love of nature. Today she splits her time between Sullivan, Maine, near Acadia National Park, and Fort Lauderdale. Still hearty and active, Wexler loves to give away her money. "My husband always had to hold me down," she jokes. Her list of favorite causes includes wildlife, the arts, and women's rights. She is president of the board of the Pierre Monteux School, and there are children's plays and concerts every summer in a barn on her Maine property. "But the environment is number one," she insists. "If we ruin it, we can't live. It's as simple as that." Wexler, a Wilderness Society member for the past 26 years, has left us a bequest intention in her living trust. At the termination of her trust, a portion of her assets will go toward our conservation mission. Back to Top | Read more about her gift |
