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| Alumni couple's gift plan tells a love story April 2006
This love story has everything — great joy, shared passions, profound sadness, a sense of purpose and renewed joy. Gordon and Margaret Bartelt met nearly 35 years ago when both were biology majors at UW-Eau Claire. They graduated, married and embarked upon a journey, following each other around the country in pursuit of educational, career and recreational opportunities. Margaret earned her doctorate from Northwestern University and was an accomplished educator at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences for 18 years. Gordon, who received two master's degrees, was a registered professional engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Arkansas when he developed brain tumors in the late 1990s. In 2002, with Gordon's illness progressing, they walked away from work and traveled whenever his health permitted. Gordon died July 21, 2005. In March 2006, Margaret gave more than $70,000 in stock to the UW-Eau Claire Foundation to establish the Gordon Bartelt Biology Fund. The fund's income will support faculty and staff development and infrastructure needs in the UW-Eau Claire biology department. Margaret also established a trust that at her death will permanently endow the Gordon Bartelt Biology Fund at the $100,000 level and establish the Gordon and Margaret Bartelt Fund with a six-figure endowment, the income from which will be used to meet various infrastructure needs and support faculty and staff development across the university. "Gordon and I had a wonderful life together that began at UW-Eau Claire," Margaret said. "He was a staunch believer in the value of higher education and periodically commented on the tremendously positive impact that UW-Eau Claire had on his life. He very much wanted part of our estate to support the university's educational activities. Together we made an estate plan that included the UW-Eau Claire Foundation and called for a bequest to be made after both our deaths. When Gordon died last summer, I wanted him to be honored sooner rather than later. This desire led to my donation of stock to establish an endowed fund in Gordon's name." For Margaret, this gift of stock and the completed estate plan were simply the next chapters in the remarkable love story that began at UW-Eau Claire.
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