With savings in the same bank that Joseph Lee Heywood himself once defended, Doug ’64 and Ruth Crane thought creating a charitable gift annuity was the perfect idea. It makes them members of the Heywood Society, and it benefits the place they both love dearly. “Carleton as a physical place is very important to me,” Doug says. “Living in Northfield, we have the benefit of seeing improvements and also the consistency. The quality of teaching and the connections faculty make with students have been there since I was there.”
The Cranes’ ties to the school go way back. When Ruth was young, her grandmother used to bring her to Mai Fete and the arboretum. When Doug was a student, Ruth continued to visit Carleton to see him; they were even married by a Carleton trustee, just a week after Doug graduated.
Fifty years later, as reunion approached, members of the Class of ’64 encouraged each other to be as generous as possible. “The incredible power of all of us giving together created a connection with my classmates,” Doug says. The Cranes chose a charitable gift annuity because its rate of return was higher than interest rates, and the charitable deduction and tax-free portion were an added bonus.
To Doug and Ruth, Carleton and Northfield are intertwined. An economics major, Doug worked as a finance officer for the Northfield School District — his office was in the former Northfield Middle School, now the Weitz Center for Creativity. Ruth, who studied Norwegian and women’s studies at St. Olaf, has worked at Gould Library and at the Norwegian-American Historical Association. Now happily retired and living just minutes from campus, the couple enjoys traveling, visiting their 5-year-old granddaughter, and taking part in the Class of 1964 mini-reunions.
“I loved my experience at Carleton to a great degree because of place,” Doug said. Happily, he and Ruth are taking part in preserving that place for future generations of Carls.