Jacquelyn Cobden (Hon.) ’41

“I married Richard Cobden in October of 1968 and my first visit to Kent School came in 1971 on the occasion of the 30th Reunion of Dick’s Class of 1941. I was breathless over the sheer beauty of the campus. My comment to Dick was, ‘I can’t imagine any student being untouched by the natural beauty and peace of this campus.’ However, my real love of Kent School stems from the members of the Class of 1941, not from the physical plant. Dick and I attended every reunion for 1971 until his death in 1996.

The men of the Class of 1941 were – and are – a unique group. The bond that exists between them is extraordinary. In all my experience, I have never encountered a group that demonstrates such warmth and genuine concern for one another. This feeling has spilled over and has affected the wives of the Class. Our reunions are like a family gathering every five years. A true highlight in my life came when I was made an Honorary member of the Class of 1941!

In 1994 to celebrate his 60th Reunion at Kent, my husband established a Charitable Remainder Unitrust, income from which would flow to his family members for life with the trust corpus ultimately remaining to Kent School. Follow Dick’s death two short years later, I began giving thought to some way in which I might give back in the form of a memorial to him at the School he loved. During Dick’s lifetime as an alumnus, he demonstrated his appreciation for his Kent experience by always being there for the School with gifts to the Annual Fund each and every year since his graduation. The consistency of Dick’s support was not unique but only mirrored that of his fellow ’41 classmates, who, collectively, have been at or near the top of Annual Fund giving participation for each of the past sixty-three years.

Therefore, when I learned of Kent School’s Annual Giving Endowment Fund, I was quick to see its potential as an appropriate memorial to Dick. This Fund is about ‘always being there’ for Kent. Here’s how it works:

The Annual Giving Endowment Fund allows an individual to perpetuate his or her gift to Annual Giving. Family members may also arrange to do this as a memorial – the path I have chosen. This Fund operates like a Pooled Income Fund in that many people participate together. The interest credited to each individual annually is proportionate to the amount of principal contributed to the Fund by that individual or his or her family.

Four percent of the income earned each year on each participant’s portion of the Fund’s aggregated principal goes directly into Kent School Annual Giving totals, credited to the name of the individual under his or her class…..in perpetuity. Additional earnings are reinvested as a hedge against inflation. In my own case, circumstances (among them the enhanced income I derive from the Charitable Remainder Trust Dick established for my lifetime benefit and ultimately for Kent) permit me to make substantial outright contributions amounting to $25,000 over the next five years directly to Kent’s Annual Fund and an additional $100,000 to Kent’s Annual Giving Endowment Fund. The end result will be that – together – Dick and I will always be there for Kent and the future well-being of its students with contributions annually in perpetuity from our portion of the Annual Giving Endowment Fund. I think this is a marvelous way to honor Dick and the Class of 1941 while helping subsidize Kent. Any School that can turn out students with the character of the Class of 1941 is worthy of our support.”

Jacquelyn Cobden died on February 13, 2004. The corpus of her husband’s Charitable Remainder Trust now joins her gifts to the Annual Giving Endowment Fund, increasing their proportionate interest in this Fund to nearly $225,000 and, consequently, generating a $9,000 gift to each year’s Annual Fund in their names under the banner of the Class of 1941….in perpetuity.

Office of Planned Giving
Kent School
P.O. Box 2006
Kent, CT 06757
860-927-6023 | 877-770-KENT | Fax: 860-927-6027
E-mail: kerrj@kent-school.edu