One sunny football Saturday in 1961, Jim Youde discovered Judith Atwood studying at the OSU library. “What are you doing here? You should be at the game!” he said.
“Of course, I agreed — and the rest, you could say, is history,” Judith Atwood Youde recalled.
They didn’t go to the game that day, but Jim took the opportunity to ask Judith on a date, and the pair married shortly after graduating in 1962. The Youdes have always had a special fondness for OSU and the education that helped them in their careers.
This year, the Youdes pledged $1.4 million to OSU, creating an estate plan and a charitable remainder trust to benefit several areas of the university. Even though they graduated from different colleges — Judith with a degree in business education and Jim in agricultural economics — the couple made sure to designate approximately $100,000 of their gift to benefit healthy aging research at the College of Health and Human Sciences.
“We are fortunate to be in a position to give back, and healthy aging is something that interests us greatly,” said Judith.
Through a charitable remainder trust, donors such as the Youdes can contribute appreciated assets free of any capital gains tax liability to create the trust. The trust then provides them with an income stream for their lifetimes or period of years. At the end of the trust, the remaining principal becomes a gift for the college.
The Youdes donated a rental property, which they had owned for many years, to create their charitable remainder trust with the OSU-Foundation. The property had appreciated so much in value that it outpaced the rent they were receiving. By donating it, they actually increased their income, Jim noted.
“In our case, we saw immediate tax benefits, a lifetime income stream, and it will ultimately help OSU,” said Jim, an agricultural economics graduate. “It’s a win-win situation for donors and the university.”
After graduating, the Youdes both undertook education careers: Judith as a high school business education teacher and Jim as an agricultural economics professor — he even taught for a time at OSU. In 1977, the couple founded Northwest Economic Associates, Inc., a natural resource and -economic consulting firm in Vancouver, Washington. Jim served as president for 20 years, and Judith managed the company’s finances for 18 years as secretary/treasurer and as CFO.
Now retired, the Youdes continue to be very active with their alma mater. They have served on the Alumni Association Board and on the OSU Foundation Board of Trustees — and, of course, they have since gone to many football games together.