A Passion for Nature

Richard and Lucile Durrell were educators and geologists devoted to nature conservation and education. They had a clear vision of what they wanted their charitable legacy to accomplish and set up their estate plan with very specific instructions.

Professor Richard H. Durrell taught geology at UC from 1946 until 1985. He was a dedicated conservationist who was personally involved with many of the causes which later ended up benefitting from the Durrells’ legacy. Prof. Durrell died in 1994 and Mrs. Durrell died in 1998.

In the end, the Durrells left the largest bequest ever to GCF - $13.2 million. The major beneficiaries included the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History for the Edge of Appalachia Preserve System, Cincinnati Nature Center, and both the Ohio and Kentucky chapters of The Nature Conservancy.

“Through their bequests, the Durrells have effectively endowed their involvement with their favorite organizations. By establishing funds that will continue their good works in perpetuity, they have truly left a legacy,” GCF’s Vice President for Giving Strategies Amy L. Cheney said.

As a form of giving, charitable bequests provide flexibility since donors can specify beneficiaries and ensure a legacy of giving to the causes they care about most. To make a charitable bequest, a person simply directs in his or her will that money or interests in property be transferred to the designated charity. The estate will be entitled to a charitable deduction for the full, fair market value of the gift.

Through GCF’s framework, the Durrells were able to leave an extraordinary legacy focused on their passions of nature conservation and education. The Foundation will ensure that the Durrells’ wishes to support multiple organizations are carried out in perpetuity.