Payne joins Legacy Society at RLC

INA – The late Howard Payne is a legacy at Rend Lake College, so it is only fitting he becomes the first member of the recently-established Legacy Society with the RLC Foundation.
The Benton native passed away last year at the age of 100, but is continuing to give back to his community and the college in the form of an estate gift.
At the end of last year, RLC Foundation CEO Shawna Bullard was informed of Payne’s exact donation – $500,000 to go toward student scholarships. This planned gift came from a portion of Payne’s estate he left to the college after his passing in May of 2015. Bullard explained this type of donation makes Payne the first individual to join the Jim & Carole Mounier Legacy Society.
Payne’s $500,000 donation will create an endowment for two scholarships, one for students in RLC’s nursing program and another for students in the college’s vocational programs. Officially called the Howard L. Payne Scholarship, the first awards will be presented in the Fall of 2016. Bullard said the scholarship will generate about $25,000 in scholarships every year.
“The establishment of the Jim and Carole Legacy Society was incredibly impactful in its educational benefits, just as Howard’s legacy gift is,” said Bullard. “It encourages people to consider RLC students in their wills and estates, while giving them a sense of security that others before them have left similar, life-changing gifts that very clearly define their faith in the Foundation’s leadership, its mission, and its ability to carry out the donor’s wishes.”
The donation is another part in Payne’s life-long involvement with the Foundation. In November of 1979, he was among several notable individuals at the RLC Foundation organizational meeting. During the evening, this new board of directors established the Foundation to support the college, and Payne was elected vice president by the other directors. It was just his first step in supporting the college for more than three decades.
Jumping back 40 years, Payne started on his path to becoming a successful banker and leader in his community by attending Southern Illinois University, then a teaching school, and working in a one-room schoolhouse. By July of 1937, he and a group of local bankers formed the Bank of Benton, from where he would retire in 1984 as the CEO and chairman of the board.
Payne was also a proud veteran, having served in France and Germany during World War II from 1943 to December of 1945. He and his wife Helene were known widely around Southern Illinois for their involvement in an endless list of community organizations, projects, and charities.
In the past few years until his passing, he served as an Emeritus member of the RLC Foundation Board of Directors and was named a recipient of the RLC Presidential Award in 1995 – the first year it was awarded. Bullard said with a résumé as long as Payne’s, it’ll be impossible to replace the support and dedication he brought to the table.
“Howard was very devoted to the Foundation and his church. He wanted for the RLC Foundation to continue in its mission: helping RLC students and making higher education not only attainable, but affordable,” said Bullard. “He was very active on the board during several Foundation projects, and he was very helpful when it came to financial experience and investing. He believed strongly in scholarships, and that was where he focused his resources.”
Payne’s estate gift, also known as a bequest, tends to be the largest gifts the Foundation receives, said Bullard. With the help of an attorney, an individual can designate their estate or a portion of their estate to be made to the college in their will or trust. In addition to Payne’s donation, the RLC Foundation recently announced another, future bequest from the Legacy Society’s namesakes.
At the RLC Foundation Annual Dinner in December, the 2014 Alumnus of the Year Jim Mounier and his wife Carole, announced their decision to bequest a portion of their estate to the college. Already totaling a value of seven figures and growing, the donation marks the largest-ever donation to the RLC Foundation.
“Both the Mouniers and Howard are paving the way for others to find the joy of giving, and that’s a beautiful gift aside from their financial contributions,” added Bullard. “I can say right now it’s working, as I’ve received several calls from estate attorneys and accountants on behalf of clients wanting to know the specifics for leaving a planned gift to the RLCF since the announcement. That is powerful, that’s influential, and that’s generosity on several different levels.”