Retired Teacher Still Blessing Children's Lives

There are two phases to Barbara's life - childhood, and serving children. Born in Great Falls, Barbara and her family moved to Libby when she was in the seventh grade. Her parents owned and operated the Hotel Libby for 15 years. Among Barbara's childhood memories are the hours she and her sister would spend playing school. Perhaps this was a harbinger to her future career.

Barbara received her first teaching assignment in Bridger, Mont., on a two year education certificate. Like many Montana communities, the Bridger school wouldn't hire married women. Among the teachers in the small school was a young gentleman by the name of Bob Wix, who would subsequently serve for 18 years as the Executive Director of Intermountain.

After completing her degree at Montana State University, Barbara spent seven years teaching in Washington State. But like most Montana natives, absence does more than make the heart grow fonder, it eventually compels one to come home. And so it was with Barbara, who, after landing a teaching job in Billings, migrated back to Montana in 1965. She joined the First Presbyterian Church and has been an active member there ever since.

Barbara is not exactly sure when she began contributing to Intermountain, but it was "a long time ago." "I knew that Intermountain was doing good work for children from unfortunate circumstances," said Barbara, "My life's work was educating children, so contributing to Intermountain was a natural fit."

Soon after her mother passed away in 2006, Barbara decided to consider charitable gift planning as a part of her broader goal of getting all of her estate plans in order. With the help of Terry Chaney, Intermountain's Development Director, and the support of her financial advisor, Sue Anderson, Barbara decided to set up a deferred gift annuity with Intermountain as beneficiary.

"I don't need the income right now," explained Barbara," and by deferring payments for five years, I was able to get more in the way of tax benefits."

"The Montana tax credit is a great tax benefit, and most people simply don't know about it," said Chaney. "For folks like Barbara who want income for life, but also have an interest in making a legacy gift to Intermountain, the state tax credit makes a great option even better."

During the meeting to discuss gift planning options, Barbara mentioned that she had never visited Intermountain. Sue, her financial advisor, suggested that they take a trip together to Helena for the tour. "I thought that was a nice gesture on Sue's part," said Chaney, "but given the distance and the time involved, I didn't really expect that to materialize. The very next week," continued Chaney, "I get a call from Sue to schedule a visit for her and Barbara. We set something up for the next week. You might say that Sue goes the extra mile for her clients - literally," said Chaney.

Barbara said that the personal visit was very affirming. "I felt that my financial support is being used for a useful purpose. I was impressed with the employees, their enthusiasm for the work, and the number of years that many of them have been there. The campus is such a good environment for the children; you can tell that the children feel safe and are well cared for."