Planned Giving

Donor Stories

Remembering Uncle Frank

Deeply disappointed that the Great Depression robbed him of the freedom to attend college, Frank Gelsomino spent his entire life investing his earnings and watching the market with ferocious intensity. His life of frugality wedded to his expert dealings with investments resulted in bequests of more than $1.6 million to St. Bonaventure University and $700,000 to Olean General Hospital. His gift to us was meant to ensure that no young person would suffer the lifelong regret that had been his bitter bread. His gift to the hospital was meant to protect the health of countless neighbors. I remembered all of this standing on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.
There, in the middle of the strobing numerals, the flying fractions of the day’s earnings, the confetti of torn papers littering the floor, the drone of heated voices from all directions, I realized that Uncle Frank might be memorialized here as well as any chapel or church.
Here was the citadel of the economy that gave him the precious chance to become better off, to create wealth for a small-town laborer, to become a philanthropist in denim overalls. How many others were there like him flashing around that board, seeking a chance for success for themselves, but just as often, a chance to endow something beyond themselves and the horizons of their singular fates.

Sister Margaret Carney, O.S.F.
St. Bonaventure president
Reflections on The Closing Bell Ceremony
of the New York Stock Exchange
November 25, 2008

The Story of Joe DeMaria

I graduated from Bona's in 1950. Jackie and I were married in 1956 and she has been a loyal Bonnies fan ever since.
  Our reasons for supporting St. Bonaventure are legion.
  After having been a student at the school for four years, I have been infected with the same love for the school that almost all students have, especially after graduation.
  After a tour of active duty with the Army, I attended Fordham Law School and graduated in 1955. Attending this great Jesuit institution was rewarding and inspiring.
  No comparison, however, can be made between the two schools as far as peace, happiness and genuine joy are concerned.
  Fordham Law taught me how to go into the world and do well. St. Bonaventure taught me how to go into the world and do good.
  I was fortunate to have been on campus when the late great Fr. Tom Plassmann was president. A quotation from one of his talks seems to be apropos. "The St. Bonaventure Spirit; the spirit of unconquerable optimism, of trust in God's wisdom and Providence. Such a spirit breeds and fastens ideals that lift us above discouragement, disappointment and disaster."
  All in all, Jackie and I support Bona's because we love everything about it. We especially love the Spirit of St. Francis, the Franciscan spirit that follows the men and women of St. Bonaventure all of their lives.
  Being Seraphim Society members is the logical extension of this love.

Dominic Manieri – A Donor Story

Dominic Manieri, class of 1940, died in 1999. This school year, he'll help a student attend St. Bonaventure University. As an undergraduate student, Dominic received financial assistance from Fr. Tom and Fr. Gerald.
Without this assistance, Dominic could not have attended college. The friars showed Dominic a future filled with opportunity, hope and Franciscan beliefs.
Thanks to a bequest in Dominic's will, future generations of students will have an opportunity to have a life worth sharing. Please include St. Bonaventure University in your will or estate plan.

Touch the Future with Your Estate Plan

Martha sat in her attorney's office describing her plans for the distribution of her estate.
   "Well, let's see now. I want to leave the crystal to my sister Harriet. I should do something for my brother Charles, although he's so successful he really doesn't need an inheritance from me. I'll just leave him a token of my affection - perhaps the grandfather clock from my husband's estate.
   "I want to provide generously for my son, Tim, and my daughter, Julie," Martha continued, "but I'm not sure it's necessary, or even a good idea, to leave them all of my estate. We taught them to work hard and be self-reliant and nothing should change that.
   "Now there are three others I need to tell you about . . . and they are very unusual," she added slyly. On hearing those words her attorney leaned closer and Martha went on:
   "Oh, yes. These people tell me they never have to pay income taxes. Not only that, I never have to pay gift taxes or estate taxes on anything I give to them. But here's what is even more interesting: Whenever I make gifts to them, I get to write it off on my income taxes!" Martha smiled at her attorney's puzzled expression and finally confided that these "people" actually were several worthwhile not-for-profit organizations (including us).
   Increasingly, people like Martha are telling their advisers: "My children are grown, educated and on their own. I have given them a good start in life. I want to provide for them after my death but I don't feel I need to leave my children everything.
   "I would do them no favors by giving them an instant fortune. I've worked hard; I've been successful; life's been good to me. Now I want to give something back. I want to do something for humanity. It's a matter of my personal philosophy."
   For these individuals, their charitable beneficiaries - school, house of worship, health institution, social service organization, cultural foundation or others - may be every bit as important as the "natural" objects of their bounty. And if that's the case, then some remarkable estate planning ideas are possible. Our staff would be pleased to help explore ways by which you can add immense personal satisfaction to your plans - plans that make the statement: "I was here; my life was important . . . I made a difference.