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| Frugal planning leads to greater giving September 2006
Louise Pederson Gillette was one of seven children of a Norwegian immigrant farm family and the only one of the family to go to college. She graduated in 1929 from UW-Eau Claire, then known as the Eau Claire State Teachers College, with a degree in education. Her humble beginnings taught her to be very frugal and a good financial planner, said Carole Davids, her niece. "What she was able to do financially with good planning on the little she made and the investments and real estate she acquired is a lesson to anyone," Davids said. "She always said to me, 'I am so glad I am financially sound.'" In January 2002 Gillette gave $50,000 to establish a charitable gift annuity through the UW-Eau Claire Foundation. That annuity paid her a quarterly income from 2002 until her death at 97 in July 2005. In addition to the annuity, Gillette made a charitable bequest in her estate. These gifts resulted in the establishment of an endowed scholarship, the Louise Pederson Gillette Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship fund is designated for financially needy Wisconsin women students, with preference given to those from farms or rural communities. For the first two to three years of the fund's existence, the scholarships will be awarded to women students in math and computer science as part of a National Science Foundation grant program, reflecting Louise's academic background. After that any female student, regardless of major, will be eligible. "Louise wanted to help young women get an education," Davids said. "She always felt fortunate for the independence her education gave her, especially as a woman who supported herself most of her life. I think her scholarship fund was a way she felt she could help another woman attain the same." "This is the perfect example where Louise's thoughtful planning during her lifetime led to the creation of a perpetual legacy in her name," said Carole Halberg, president of the UW-Eau Claire Foundation. "She established the charitable gift annuity, which provided her with considerably more income than she was realizing from the funds she contributed. Then, her estate increased the value of the scholarship fund so there is an endowed scholarship fund. With her foresight in managing her finances, Louise was able to extend her giving."
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