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Ed and Alverda had considered giving, in their will, a large portion of their estate to one church-related college. They had talked about this possibility many times but finally decided that a foundation would be less restrictive and would be able to help students in Kendall County, Illinois. Their desire to help students with their college expenses grew out of many factors. Although they would have done well, college was not an option for either of them in the 1920s. Yet they valued college education, and people with college educations such as teachers, ministers, nurses, and doctors. Alverda, in particular, had had a very positive experience during her years at Yorkville High School. She had dreamed of college, and admired her few class mates who were able to continue on to college. They had no children so they never experienced sending kids off to college, but they were always interested and encouraging to their young friends who were headed to college.
They also realized that college was even more important as the millennium approached.
Family members received a share of her estate although one relative challenged the will and, indirectly, the establish-ment of the Kilts Foundation. The relatives sought to question Alverda’s mental faculties when she made her will. Everyone who knew Alverda knew that she was fully cognitive/mentally sharp as ever until her death. Her lawyer who drew up her will and also helped established the Kilts foundation, defended the will in court. The case was dismissed. The Kilts Foundation was established.
Atypical family circumstances, plus plain hard work, enabled Ed and Alverda to fund the Kilts Foundation. Ed had no nephews or nieces, and he outlived his siblings. He received the family home in Plano as well as other assets. Alverda had a sister who had three children and a brother who never married. Alverda did receive her share of her parents’ large farm which she, no doubt, invested. So through family inheritance plus wise investments, frugal living and just plain, hard work, a large estate existed when Alverda died; Ed had died a few years earlier. In her will, Alverda not only established the Kilts Foundation but also remembered many people and institutions including local libraries, churches, and the American Legion.