John L. Neigh, M.D., ’55, P’92, G’15, and his wife, Charline, are big supporters of Franklin & Marshall College. They so deeply believe in what the College does, they support it in many ways.
A former Trustee and member of the Alumni Association Board, and now a Trustee Emeritus, Jack volunteers as a member of the Board of Visitors. He is a recipient of both the Alumni Medal and the Nevonian Medal, and is a co-chair of his class reunion committee. Jack and Charline continue to make gifts to the Franklin & Marshall Fund and the John & Charline Neigh Family Endowed Scholarship. This year, they used a portion of the required minimum distribution from an IRA to fund those gifts.
“It just makes financial sense in this day and age, when IRAs are making significant increases,” Neigh says. “We can give some of that to F&M, and it reduces our taxes.”
The IRA charitable distribution is now permanent and is a terrific way for individuals who are 70 and a half years old or older to make a tax-free gift from a qualified retirement plan to Franklin & Marshall, according to Mary Ann M. Cooke, J.D. ’90, director of gift planning.
Neigh says he and his wife support the College because they believe in a liberal arts education and see the positive outcome from the gifts they have made.
“We’ve met some of the students who have received our family scholarship,” he says. “That’s always given us a lot of enjoyment; we get to know a little bit about them. At least one has gone on to become a physician.”
Neigh attended the University of Pennsylvania Medical School after graduating from F&M, and served as the chief of anesthesia at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. After his service, he returned to the University of Pennsylvania. He retired in 1998 as the chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he worked for 20 years. He works now as a physician adviser for the clinical resource management and quality department at Penn Presbyterian.
He says there’s an additional reason he and his wife give to Franklin & Marshall College.
“My tuition and room and board was mostly paid for by scholarships and other gifts,” he says, “and my F&M education truly was the starter for my career. Now we can help current students.”
To learn how to craft your own legacy at F&M, or for more information about making a tax-free gift using your IRA, contact Mary Ann M. Cooke, J.D., '90, at mcooke@fandm.edu or 717-358-4821.