How Mary LaVelle is leaving a legacy: with a multi-year gift through her retirement account

Mary LaVelle was a founding member of the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust in 1992. Mary is leaving a legacy by providing sustaining support for long-term stewardship with a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) from her retirement account. Please enjoy Mary’s “why” below, in her own words.

Mary & Jim LaVelle

Nature or nurture?

Is the appetite to focus on plants in the landscape baked into the DNA of gatherers, from hunter/gatherer days? Or-- for me-- was it a childhood of forays along railroad tracks and country roads with my mom to pick wildflowers or wild asparagus? Or growing up in a little town—the vacant lots and Gooseberry Creek always more interesting than mowed yards?

Whatever that answer, being out in nature has always made me happy. The thirty years we lived on nearly sixty acres of woods, fields and wetlands in Saukville were very special. Jim and I wanted to be sure that our spring-fed pond, one of the sources of Riveredge Brook, would always be protected. “In Perpetuity” is something none of us have as mortal beings—so, before there was an Ozaukee Land Trust, an Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, or Restoring Lands, we cooperated with Riveredge to secure an easement on the Birchwood Road property. Then--there were activists who saw the need for protecting land in the face of rapid exurban development around Milwaukee, and it was not long before that first local land trust was chartered in 1992. It was wonderful to be part of that founding with those hardworking, talented, forward-thinking people.

The thirty years we spent managing our Birchwood land taught me an important lesson: if “natural” land is surrounded by agriculture or suburbia or even parkland---and especially if that land has once been used for any of those other purposes—then securing an easement is just the first step in its care. Establishing prairie restorations and other wildlife-friendly landscapes is labor intensive; the process lasts a long time! Sweet clover and Queen Anne’s Lace seeds persist for what seems like forever; honeysuckle, buckthorn, garlic mustard, teazel—and more-- are waiting. Grunt work, no glamour!

So, my decision to contribute to the Land Trust’s Stewardship Fund grew out of that experience. Give where the need is--for the grunt work, not the glamour.

Why now? Years ago, we had parceled out gifts in our will. But where would the fun be in giving when we are gone? We are in our eighties now---it’s high time to be giving while we can still enjoy seeing the results!

What I would say to others is that, for me, giving to secure something “In Perpetuity” is a very satisfying legacy.