University of Delaware Office of Public Relations The Messenger Vol. 5, No. 1/1995 Recognition: A Special Report The Benefits Of Planned Giving The photograph at right brings back happy memories for Robert R. Vennum, Delaware '33. Vennum and his former UD classmates stand beside the late Robert L. Spencer, dean of the then School of Engineering from 1928 to 1945. It was Dean Spencer who helped launch Vennum's career in mechanical engineering, by suggesting a job as assistant to the plant engineer at the Continental Diamond Fiber Co. in Newark. In recognition of Dean Spencer, the Sigma Nu Fraternity, the 1933 Blue Hen yearbook staff, fellow Review writers and all his pleasant memories from those years, Vennum recently pledged a significant gift to the University. Known as a "life-income gift arrangement," the contribution of $450,000 in appreciated securities will be carefully managed by the University to benefit future students, while also providing Vennum with an income stream for life, plus a charitable tax deduction. Vennum's generous gift is only one example of a planned gift. Those who wish to support University students through scholarships and other programs may select a variety of options for planned giving, reports Paula M. Tilmon, Esq., director of trusts and estates in the Office of University Development. Donors can remember the University in their wills, for example. Or, like Vennum, they may choose to arrange a life-income gift. In this way, a gift may return lifetime dividends to the donor or to anyone else designated by the donor. A $2 million life-income gift arranged by the late Clara Harrington Stradley of Milford, Del., will endow a scholarship fund for nursing students. Initially, however, income will be provided for life to Clara's sister and brother. Remaining funds will be transferred to the University after they are no longer needed by Mrs. Stradley's siblings. Nearly $2 million in matured bequests also was received during F.Y. 1994-95 because of alumni and friends who included the University in their wills, according to Tilmon. Bequests this year included gifts from the following donors: Robert J. Barkley, Delaware '19, unrestricted support; Paul E. Becker Jr., Delaware '66M, gift to benefit the Professional Theatre Training Program and the music department; David I. Betts, scholarship support; A. Leslie Calloway, Delaware '26, art scholarships; A. Lee Ellis, Delaware 1893, unrestricted support; Lois F. Flowers, Delaware '58M, unrestricted support; Virginia L. Franklin, support for the College of Nursing; Claudia M. Horsey, support for the Horsey-Wolfe Scholarship Fund, which benefits students from Newark High School as well as from Kent and Sussex counties; Frederick A. Keidel, support for the geology department; Leah R. Lord, gift to the Henry Clay Reed Fund in history; Mae M. Loudis, support for the Anthony Loudis Fund in the music department; Sara M. MacNair, Delaware '26, gift to the Morris Library; Thomas S. Molyneux, support for the Thomas W. Molyneux Fund in the English department; James W. Nichols, Delaware '35, unrestricted support; Gladys D. Roscoe, Delaware '52, unrestricted support; and Jane Crane Straughn, Delaware '53, gift for the Mary Custis Straughn Endowment, to provide a broad range of assistance to students with disabilities.