Lois and Harold Joseph of Menlo Park, Calif., are leaving their estate to Eastern in the memory of Mrs. Joseph’s mother, Mary Coon Cottingham, an Eastern alumna who enjoyed creative writing.

In October 2003, the Josephs began funding an endowment that will benefit Eastern.

Their generosity will endow the Mary Coon Cottingham Scholarship, which will benefit students who have a strong interest and talent in English, literature and creative writing.

Their gift will also be used for the Mary Coon Cottingham Visiting Writers and Scholars Series, which will bring writers and scholars to campus to speak on creative writing and literature.

The scholarship and series will be funded upon the Josephs’ maturity, depending on the earning of the endowment, which will determine how often and how many scholarships will be funded, said Executive Director of Development Karla Evans.

Even if the donors leave everything, the state goes through probate until all claims against the estate are paid, then Eastern receives the residuary value, the amount of money left, Evans said.

Some leave their entire estate, a percentage or dollar amount to the university.

The Josephs have left their entire estate, all of their assets, to Eastern.

Evans said the Josephs decided several years ago to leave the estate to Eastern, and in October 2003, because of circumstances, wanted to create a charitable gift annuity.

Leaving a gift to the university in estate is considered a planned gift, she said. Heritage Society recognizes individuals for donor recognition in all individual or planned gifts for Eastern through a publication.

“Many, many people do this,” Evans said. “It’s really important because normally, planned gifts to the university will be a major gift, different from an annual gift.”

The University has annual funds, which are cash donations from alumni, she said. Many scholarships funded are through estate planning and much of the funding that has happened has been because of someone leaving their estate to the university.

Planned and major giving, such as a trust, is an ultimate gift commitment and given not necessarily through a will, Evans said.

The planned giving portion of donations are by far the largest gifts to the university. These are the ultimate commitments by an individual to support their charity of choice, in the Josephs’ case, their alma mater, Evans said.

Usually the donors realized graduation had a direct impact on their life and success, and at a point in their life they’ve realized they’ve really benefited, Evans said. They stop to reflect on it and look to the university to make a difference.

“Estate planning is the whole idea of leaving the world in a better place than you found it,” Evans said. “It’s my job to help people fulfill their dreams.”

Evans’ role in gift planning is to write the charitable gift of annuity and assure the donor intent was honored.

“It’s about the donor and what the donor wants to do,” Evans said. “They have a vision, come through the door and know what they want to do. They may know the gift their entire life and when they are looking into the future, they put the commitment to the gift.”

Mrs. Joseph, a 1936 Eastern graduate, was very active on the campus newspaper and was a class officer.

Mr. Joseph is a retired Air Force Communications officer and is also retired from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, at Stanford University.

Cottingham attended the opening of what was then the Eastern Illinois State Normal School in 1899. She graduated from the teacher’s college in 1904.