Planned Giving
Marilyn
Some gifts change lives today. Others continue changing lives for generations. Marilyn Maag understood both perspectives.
A longtime friend, supporter, and former Board member of Santa Maria Community Services, Marilyn devoted herself to strengthening opportunities for families throughout Greater Cincinnati. She deeply believed in the dignity, strength, and potential of the families we serve, and she believed in Santa Maria’s role in walking alongside them on their journeys toward opportunities and stability.
Michael Gentry, Santa Maria’s current Board member, who also served in the past on the Board with Marilyn (and serves on the Board today), says: “Marilyn was a very compassionate and committed human being, especially to Santa Maria and what it stood for as a beacon of education, support, and hope for the Price Hill community. Her service as a Board member and later, while off the board, was most helpful and appreciated.”
Those who knew Marilyn remember her thoughtful leadership, practical wisdom, and commitment to community. During her service on Santa Maria’s Board of Directors, she helped establish our Endowment Fund, recognizing that lasting impact requires long-term vision. She generously shared her knowledge of planned giving and encouraged others to consider how their values might continue to shape the future long after their lifetimes.
Marilyn understood something important: meaningful change takes time. Children need years of support to reach their full potential; families need consistent resources to build financial stability; communities need organizations that can remain strong and responsive through changing times.
That understanding inspired Marilyn to make a generous bequest to Santa Maria through her estate plan.
True to her character, she did so quietly and without seeking recognition. Her goal was simple: to ensure that the work she cared about would continue. Santa Maria’s President and CEO, H.A. Musser, Jr., reflects: “Marilyn’s bequest shows her deep belief in Santa Maria and in the families we serve. She cared about long-term impact and wanted to ensure that future generations would continue to have access to support and opportunity. Her legacy strengthens our organization and the community we serve.”
Marilyn also loved a good party. In 2019, she opened her heart and her house in OTR to help celebrate our President and CEO’s 35th anniversary of tenure at Santa Maria. She did it with impeccable planning acumen, in partnership with staff and board members, and most of all with love and quiet vibrancy she brought to anything she did or touched.
Today, Marilyn’s legacy lives on through Santa Maria’s Endowment Fund. Her gift helps provide the financial stability needed to serve future generations of families. It supports parents gaining job skills and financial confidence. It helps children enter kindergarten ready to learn. It helps families maintain stable housing and access the resources they need to thrive.
Perhaps most importantly, her gift reflects a profound act of hope – a belief that future generations deserve the same opportunities and support that Santa Maria provides today.
Planned gifts are often among the most meaningful gifts a person can make. They allow individuals to support the causes they care about while creating a lasting legacy that reflects their values, passions, and vision for the future.
Marilyn’s story reminds us that philanthropy is not only about what we give during our lifetime. It is also about the impact we choose to leave behind.
If Santa Maria has touched your life, inspired your generosity, or reflected values (make this a link to SM values) you hold dear, we invite you to consider how your own legacy might continue supporting families for generations to come. Like Marilyn, you have the opportunity to create a future filled with hope, opportunity, and possibility. Because the most enduring gifts are not measured by recognition. They are measured by the lives they continue to change.
Becky and Mike
In the winter of 1989, Mike Gentry was invited to serve as Treasurer of Santa Maria’s Board by then Board President, Val Sena. Val and Bill Sena were Mike’s friends, and they talked highly about Santa Maria and its mission. Coincidentally, Mike was looking for volunteer and service opportunities in Cincinnati. He got involved as the Treasurer first, and then became the Vice Chair, and eventually took the position of the Board Chair and stayed in that role for three years. He said that he thoroughly enjoyed his years of service and so did his wife, Becky, since she got involved in the agency’s Development Committee and helped plan events. “We both loved helping with organizing the big party in 1997 to celebrate Santa Maria’s centennial,” Mike said.
Their daughter, Grace, was born in 1996, and that made Mike and Becky start thinking long term. They started planning for their future more closely and including Santa Maria in their wills came naturally as they worked on their estate planning. A number of factors played a role in making that decision: they are both big fans of H.A. Musser, the President and CEO of Santa Maria, and they highly value the mission of the organization. Mike said, “I actually got to vote when H.A. was selected from being interim CEO to assuming that role permanently.”
Mike rotated off the Board of Santa Maria in 1997, since he was building his family and career, but he returned in 2018. “H.A. and I kept in touch all those years, and I was glad to be back,” Mike said. “The mission of Santa Maria is still the same, although the work is different. We are energized by seeing younger people on the Board and on the committees. H.A.’s role as the leader of the agency and in the community is very strong. The agency does great work in helping those in need help themselves.”
Mike stated that he is at a different place in both his personal and professional lives, and, based on life experiences, he now has a deeper appreciation of Santa Maria’s work and its impact. “I am glad to see some of the old timers also being back on the Board – old friends like Barb Kruetzkamp and Ted Mitchel. My conviction about leaving a legacy gift to Santa Maria has strengthened through the years,” Mike said.
Mike’s story is one of service, dedication and generosity that truly demonstrates the power of a legacy and its ability to touch many, many lives through planned giving.
Many people give to our annual fund, and their generosity provides for the everyday operations of our agency. However, making a planned (deferred) gift to Santa Maria can ensure that the legacy builds a financial foundation upon which other generations of annual givers can build. Your legacy gift would fund great human service programs and help families be self-sufficient.
Whether your interests are in issues related to parenting and child development, self-sufficiency for struggling families, financial stability of families, or the general wellbeing of our agency, Santa Maria will help tailor your legacy to a personalized legacy fund. Having said that, an unrestricted designation will ensure that your gift remains relevant.
If you have any questions about making a planned gift to Santa Maria, please contact Nune Sargsyan by calling (513) 557-7267 or e-mailing at nune.sargsyan@santamaria-cincy.org. You can also contact your financial advisor, and we will be glad to work with him/her.