Donor Stories

Elizabeth Rasmussen loved her community.

“She was always involved,” recalls her cousin Janet Mead. “She just loved this area and wanted to give back where she could.”

A former primary school teacher, Elizabeth led a modest life on Oshkosh’s south side. She lived comfortably, but not lavishly – unless you count her rich giving spirit.

Elizabeth supported a wide variety of community projects throughout her lifetime, with particular interest in youth, elderly, parks, and music programs. She was a major donor to the Pollock Community Water Park, and funded the Park View Health Center atrium in her mother’s honor.

Though Elizabeth died in 2008, her commitment to the Oshkosh area lives on through a charitable bequest. Since she had no children, Elizabeth made the community the primary beneficiary of her estate, leaving 41 local charities in her will.

“She put a lot of thought into the organizations to benefit from her estate,” says Elizabeth’s estate planner, Sandy Noe. “In the end it really came down to her wanting to make an impact in many different areas of interest and need throughout the community.”

Her generous bequest to the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation created two charitable funds: the Elizabeth J. Rasmussen School Program Fund, to support at-risk youth and after-school programming, and the Elizabeth J. Rasmussen Scholarship Fund, to assist low-income students in pursuing two- or four-year college degrees.

Through charitable giving, Elizabeth’s legacy lives on.