Gifts that pay you back

One of Ed and Mary Alice’s lasting memories was meeting at Knox while Ed was a junior and Mary Alice was a freshman. By the end of that school year, they were dating and dancing together regularly. Both became members of the choir at Central Congregational Church, near the Knox campus. They were married in their hometown, Chicago, in September 1961.

Ed earned his Master’s and PhD in physics from Vanderbilt University, followed by two years of active duty (result of ROTC) as a mathematical physicist/officer in an Army Intelligence unit at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. His family lived with him on the post. In 1967, he accepted a teaching position at Indiana Central College, which later grew into the University of Indianapolis. Ed and Mary Alice became known as the dancing faculty couple. Mary Alice became recognized in the community for her Girl Scout leadership. (Six family members have lifetime memberships in Girl Scouts.)

During all of his adult life, Ed embraced firsthand the value of a world-class liberal arts education, studying and teaching math and physics, and refining his personal and professional skills and interests, especially writing skills, which Ed attributes to the Expository Writing course at Knox. Throughout his lifetime, Ed has been writing numerous manuscripts for various purposes, both professional and personal, including many articles in model railroad magazines.

In 2000, Ed retired from classroom teaching and launched a volunteer tutoring ministry at Friedens United Church of Christ and extensively studied financial retirement planning. He designed his own retirement financial structure based mostly on TIAA annuities. During retirement, Ed has written several dozen short memoirs including his research into retirement planning options. He has offered to share his knowledge of annuities and financial retirement planning structures with anyone who is interested.