Heartfelt Care Leaves a Lasting Impression

Making Plans Now Ensures a Bright Future

Kate and Ken Fox met while attending Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. After getting married and working in education after graduation, they moved to Kate's hometown of St. Louis when their first son was born. They continued to grow their family to include two more children, and Ken worked as an educator until he eventually retired.

In the fall of 2004, the family received shocking news no parent ever wants to hear. Their oldest son, Gregg, was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The tumor was successfully removed from his brain stem, and after five years of monitoring, Gregg was released from the hospital's care. Even though their son was no longer a patient, the exemplary care offered at St. Louis Children's Hospital left a lasting impression on the Foxes.

"While we'll always be indebted to the individuals involved in Gregg's care, we recognize the institution is something we want to support in the long run," said Ken.

For the Foxes, a combination of retirement and a new chapter as empty-nesters led them to begin the values-based estate planning process - a service offered to St. Louis Children's Hospital supporters that includes a confidential, comprehensive estate planning consultation at no charge and with no obligation. The process began with identifying what's important to Ken and Kate through a questionnaire to gauge what values, dreams, goals, passions and people the Foxes consider important and how the couple wishes to be remembered. The plan will reflect those key issues.

Through a series of meetings with Michael Geis of Thompson & Associates, the Foxes captured their values and priorities, outlined their intentions and protected their assets on a roadmap that would allow them take care of their family while remembering the institutions they feel strongly should have their support.

Both Kate and Ken note their meetings with Michael were positive and productive. "Positive

in the fact that we always left feeling good about our conversations with him," said Ken.

"Productive in the fact that we made good progress each meeting by understanding what we had accomplished and outlining the next steps."

Kate and Ken agreed that the step-by-step planning was very helpful. "It never felt overwhelming, even though there were big decisions to make," said Kate.

They are very thankful for the opportunity St. Louis Children's provided them as they planned for not only their future, but also the future of the hospital that provided them much-needed answers during a difficult time.