Annamarie Marsh Louie
"My grandparents always said, 'Buy land and never sell it.'"
For Annamarie Marsh Louie '91 BA, '98 MA, this is something of an unofficial family creed. As the fifth generation to manage the day-to-day operations of her family's Northern California ranch, she provides a rare but vital continuity to the hardworking immigrant ancestors that preceded them.
The sudden loss of her father during her first year at Santa Clara University turned her family's world upside down, and the added financial uncertainty only compounded the grief. The youngest of seven, Annamarie worried that her family wouldn't be able to continue to afford her tuition.
"Santa Clara was there for me, and the financial aid I received during my undergraduate years was, I felt, an investment in me," she explains. "And now I'm fortunate enough to be able to pay it forward. I hope to transform other lives and inspire others to build a life of purpose."
Annamarie (bottom row, second from the left) with her cross country team in 1987.
Annamarie and her husband, Alan, are doing just that by using monies from their donor advised fund to accomplish her goal of investing back into Santa Clara. With her gift, the one-time schoolteacher, who still recalls the names of her students, is channeling her support into the Future Teachers Project, a program aiding students interested in becoming teachers in urban and under-served communities.
"I want the gift to be broad-reaching and long-lasting. As a teacher, it's an incredible experience to get to know your students and their families."
The gift from her DAF will leave a lasting legacy that stands to benefit future generations of students—not to mention the teachers who will fondly remember their names and faces long after they graduate.
To learn more about how you can simplify your giving and support students through a donor advised fund, contact the Office of Planned Giving at 408-554-2108 or giftplanning@scu.edu.