A Home-Grown Legacy

Ed Mace was raised by his devoted and caring single mother in Orange. In 1954, at the age of 10, he welcomed a new neighbor: Chapman College. Since then, Chapman has been woven throughout his life.

Ed remembers Chapman students who were student teachers in his classrooms and worked and volunteered in the neighborhood. Both he and his wife, Janet, attended Chapman. Janet graduated in 1971, and Ed completed his degree at Cal State University, Fullerton. Despite the transfer, Chapman professors stand out in Ed’s memory: Kurt Bergel, Bert Williams, Henry Kemp-Blair, Stan Califf, and Art Flint. He remembers how much they cared about their students and their passion for their work as educators.

While Ed and Janet have supported Town & Gown for many years, Ed began regularly attending Lunch at the Forum in 2023 to re-engage with the campus community. As his wife’s primary caregiver, he deeply appreciates the connections and friendships he has made through the group. He has been very impressed with the talented and hardworking T&G scholarship recipients. Ed shared that he finds it meaningful to fund need-based scholarships to help students avoid debt, which can be crippling after college.

To be impactful, he has funded three charitable gift annuities (CGAs) through Chapman University. With each CGA, he and his wife receive a lifetime income stream, a portion of which is tax-free income. They also receive a tax deduction at the time of the gift. Funding a CGA can be a helpful strategy for those who want to give and seek a secure income stream. After their lifetimes, Ed has documented that any remaining funds from the CGAs will be added to the Town & Gown Endowed Scholarship.

When asked who taught him to be philanthropic, Ed shared that his mother demonstrated generosity, empathy, and acceptance through her everyday actions. These early lessons showed Ed the value of giving. His response about why he has created legacy gifts was, “I want to do my best to leave the world in better shape than I found it.”

 Town & Gown Legacy Circle

Like Ed, members of the T&G Legacy Circle have been inspired to create a legacy gift to support Chapman University Town & Gown. If you’d like to talk to a Legacy Circle member, Marcia Cooley, Chair of the Legacy Circle Committee, is always happy to chat about the importance of legacy gifts and how meaningful it is to create your T&G legacy.

 What Will Your Legacy Be?

Whether it’s a gift through a will, living trust, beneficiary designation, charitable trust, gift annuity, or life insurance policy, legacy gifts provide a solid foundation for Chapman and future generations of Panthers. To have a no-obligation conversation about your T&G legacy, contact us:

  •     Lindsey Jacobs, (714) 628-7311 or ljacobs@chapman.edu
  •     David Moore, (714) 516-4590 or dmoore@chapman.edu

You can also take advantage of our many helpful resources, including our free Planning Your Legacy guide, at chapman.edu/legacy.