The Roger Follmer Estate, administered by Roger’s longtime friend Dr. Mark Nelson, made another legacy gift of $40,000 to the West River Health Services Foundation this past week. With this gift, the cumulative total gifted to the WRHS Foundation over the last two years from the Follmer Estate is an amazing sum of $555,000! “We are so grateful for Roger’s legacy gifts to our WRHS Foundation. This could impact our patients and staff here,” said Ted Uecker, WRHS Foundation Director.
Our WRHS Foundation Board of Directors and Administrative Team have been pondering the best use of these funds over the past two years. So far, these funds have been invested in a separate account and have built more interest. These funds have not been restricted to purpose or time. Soon, or when the time is right, we will have a needed project to pursue, thereby utilizing Roger's thoughtful legacy gift for our future. Rest assured that we will report our intentions to the local public as soon as we know them.
Roger Follmer was a lifelong Hettinger resident and an extremely successful farmer. Roger attended Hettinger Public School, where he graduated in 1967. He worked on the family farm his entire life. As a young boy, Roger loved building model cars. This passion eventually led to his love of driving fast cars and motorcycles. He often shared crazy stories of driving fast cars and motorcycles with members of the Redliners Car Club. Although Roger never actually hunted himself, he was an avid participant, shooting clay pigeons with friends at the Hettinger Rod & Gun Club and guiding pheasant hunters on his property each fall. Roger passed away unexpectedly at the age of 72. Roger left 25% of his estate to the West River Health Services Foundation.
"Our WRHS Foundation is always open to visiting with area organizations, businesses, families, and individuals about the impact we can have together. We want everyone to consider us their healthcare partners” said Uecker. “After all, we believe everyone wants and needs this top-quality rural healthcare close to home.
If you'd like to visit about your estate planning, please don’t hesitate to contact Ted Uecker, Fund Development Officer, West River Health Services Foundation, directly at 701-567-3666. He will make himself available whenever it’s convenient for you.
Although many estates are handed off to the next generation, some leave a percentage toward a local entity that influenced their lives or could influence their community. Or, in the case of West River Health Services, a place where almost everyone can potentially utilize our services via our healthcare facilities, equipment, and staff – from newborn babies to the elderly and everyone in between. You never know, we all might need an Ambulance, a hospital stay, a clinic visit someday – maybe even surgery. We provide comprehensive care right here, close to home.
Ask yourself a few questions -- Do I have my estate in order? Where do I want to leave my legacy? West River Health Services Foundation is one of the few local 501 (c) 3 nonprofits that provides services for almost everyone in our service area, including visitors to our region. Being an important pillar of the Western Dakotas, it might be the place to consider giving. TOGETHER we can make a difference for the future of our rural top-notch healthcare close-to-home.