Grateful Couple Supports Northwestern With a Legacy Gift
Eugene Pflughaupt '50 can trace many of the achievements of his life back to Northwestern, from his six-decade marriage to his late wife, Margery '50, to his successful career in sales.
After serving in the US Army Infantry from 1944 to 1946, Gene attended Northwestern on the GI Bill while commuting from his parents' home in Des Plaines, Illinois. While he was waiting in line to register for winter quarter classes his freshman year, a classmate from Arkansas named Margery Ames asked to borrow a pencil. Three years later, they were married.
When Gene was called back to service after graduating from the School of Education and Social Policy in 1950, the couple moved to Fort Bliss in Texas. When Gene's yearlong service ended, he attended law school at night on the Korean War GI Bill. Given his love of sales and new law degree, Gene contacted law publishing companies and was ultimately hired by West Publishing, a leading publisher of resources for law and research libraries and law offices. The Pflughaupts moved to Kentucky, and Gene spent his entire career with West Publishing. Northwestern happened to be a customer of West Publishing although not in Gene's territory. Gene and Margery had three daughters and were married for more than 60 years before Margery passed away in 2013.
The Pflughaupts began supporting Northwestern more than 40 years ago, and in 2003, they established a charitable gift annuity to benefit the University Libraries. "I chose to support the Libraries because my gift will impact the entire Northwestern community," Gene explained.
The charitable gift annuity allowed the Pflughaupts to make a gift to the University, receive a federal income tax deduction in the same year that the annuity was established, and receive a fixed amount of income for life. This popular deferred gift arrangement allows donors to support Northwestern while still preserving an income stream, some of which is tax-free.
In addition to establishing a charitable gift annuity, the Pflughaupts included a bequest to the Libraries in their estate plans. Gene views his gifts to Northwestern as repayment of the investment that Northwestern made: "Because of my Northwestern education and my career, Margery and I were in a position to provide support for the University. I'm paying back what I received."
Contact Northwestern Gift Planning at 800-826-6709 or giftplanning@northwestern.edu to learn how you can support Northwestern as the Pflughaupts have.