Exponential ImpactPlanned gifts seed support for decades.

“When we started discussing her will, Georgette Diab expressed to me how she wanted to honor her parents and what mattered most to each of them. I’ve worked with the Foundation for more than 20 years and know that they prioritize donor intent. Working with the staff allowed her to be both creative and specific in defining and honoring that charitable intent.”
—C. J. Jacques estate planning attorney

The Goughs’ Legacy

Siblings Robert and Winifred Gough of West View lived simply, and neither married. Winifred was a secretary for U. S. Steel, and Robert worked at Keller Office Equipment on the North Side. He also quietly invested in the stock market, leaving a sizable fortune when he died in 1989. That year, Winifred established a charitable remainder trust of $2.5 million to provide income to three of their friends and relatives during their lifetimes. She died in 1990. By the time the trust’s assets were transferred to the Foundation in 2021, the value had grown to almost $9 million, of which $4.4 million will be used to make grants- to address the greatest needs in the community. The remaining $4 million is designated to benefit the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

The Corbett's Legacy

Harry Corbett, who died last November, filled his 98 years with generosity and creativity. As a young man, he served as a Navy lieutenant in World War II. When he returned from WWII, he earned an economics degree from Washington & Jefferson College and began what would be a long and successful career as an insurance executive for MetLife. A lifelong learner, he picked up photography after taking a class at the University of California in Berkeley and later went on to exhibit his work. He also loved chamber music and, in the 1960s, helped form the organization now known as Chamber Music Pittsburgh. After retiring, he volunteered as a reading tutor for Literacy Pittsburgh and remained committed to education. To honor his devotion to education, his family established the Corbett Family Fund to provide scholarships for students in grades K through 6 from Pittsburgh’s Hill District to attend private school.

The Diabs’ Legacy

In 2007, Georgette Diab was partially paralyzed in a surfing accident. Her parents, particularly her father, Alfred, who was an engineer, cared for her as she recovered and learned to walk again. She was devastated when, a year after her accident, he died. As a talented engineer herself, she began thinking about how she could actualize his dream of establishing an engineering scholarship. In 2020, her mother, Eugeny, who loved music, died, and Georgette wanted to honor her. Last year, working with attorney C.J. Jacques, she established two scholarships — the Alfred George Diab Engineering Scholarship and the Eugeny Diab Music Scholarship — at her alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, to benefit students who have experienced disability, homelessness or loss of their parents and have financial need. In her will, Georgette has committed all assets in her estate to these scholarship funds.