Home: Coupiac, France

Gifts to For the Hill and Beyond:

• $390,000 deferred charitable gift annuities
• Manitou Heights Society member

“Giving is important to me—my church education and my parents reinforced the importance of helping others. I personally support medical research, food programs, and of course St. Olaf.”

Impact: Susan’s gift will provide her and another beneficiary guaranteed fixed income. After their lifetime, the remainder of her gift will support St. Olaf’s mission.

Why: “In planning my legacy, I thought about what charities I wanted to leave things to. I have such wonderful memories of my four years at St. Olaf – the beautiful campus, caring faculty, the warm family atmosphere. It seemed natural to do something to help perpetuate all of this for generations to come. I had been thinking about an annuity and when I saw that St. Olaf could provide one and also benefit from it. My decision was easily made.”

On the Hill: A biology/health studies major, Susan worked at the library and took in St. Olaf’s arts community, “going to wonderful concerts, plays, outdoor films, dances.” She also had the opportunity to study abroad in Aix-en Provence, the birthplace of Impressionist painter Paul Cézanne in southern France very near the Mediterranean coast—“I fell in love with a Frenchman and France.”

Beyond: Susan has lived in France since 1970, where she has worked as a teacher for decades, first for children with heart programs at a special school in Aix-en Provence, then teaching adults English at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Albi where she has remained for over 30 years. In between, for a short time she also opened her own antique shop. She remains connected to St. Olaf through her former roommate (a close friend) and her roommate’s daughter who went to St. Olaf too.

Of her time on the Hill: “I have always felt lucky to have gone to such a wonderful college that took me so far, and value the education I received. Those happy years on the Hill stand out as my last in the U.S. Certainly one of the most impactful experiences was my semester studying abroad–learning about another culture inspired me to live here ever since.”.

Why she gives: “Giving is important to me—my church education and my parents reinforced the importance of helping others. I personally support medical research, food programs, and of course St. Olaf. I hope that my gifts may help others experience what I did on the Hill.”