St. Michael’s Society
St. Michael’s Society was created to recognize and thank alumni, parents, grandparents, and friends who have established a charitable gift for South Kent School in their estate plans.
Members of the St. Michael’s Society share a deep affection for South Kent School and a commitment to ensure the School’s mission, principles, and traditions for future generations of students.
To learn more about how you can help South Kent’s future, please call Chris Farr ’84, Director of Advancement at 860-927-3539 x204.
Meet Our Members
Richard W. Martin '49
Member of St. Michael’s Society
In 1947 our father was the first minister of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Austin, TX. He knew he would be relocating during the next school year and was reluctant to move while I was a senior in high school. He was considering boarding schools when someone suggested South Kent School. During a phone conversation, Sam Bartlett told my father the school would accept me and my next brother, Doug, ’50, at a tuition my father could set. (I learned this much later, and it cemented my desire to help the school in any way I could.) Thus, I entered the 5th Form (not a common thing then) to repeat the 11th grade; but I only repeated one course in trigonometry. Later our third brother, Rog ’54, attended.
South Kent School played a huge part in my future, preparing me for any number of things – not the least of which was my fascination with the bow ties my roommate, Del Hitch, wore. Del gave me two of his oldest and tried to show me how to tie them. I finally learned after long, arm-tiring sessions before the mirror. I’ve worn them ever since, except for my seven years in the Navy. They’ve been a bit of a trademark.
I recall many new experiences and approaches to life from my time at South Kent School:
- Getting up early to help shovel snow. This was new to me as Texas had little, and I was too small to help when we lived in Arkansas and Virginia.
- Digging potatoes and collecting apples.
- Helping with farming and maintenance one summer.
- Taking the first 10 minutes of an exam to think, plan and organize before putting my pen to paper. (Thanks, Wuz – Lester Wittenberg!)
- As 6th Form truck driver, taking Bill, the cook, home most evenings, and getting the mail daily from the store/post office by the railroad tracks.
- While I am sure I had forgotten the three principles of the school – Simplicity of Life, Self-Reliance and Directness of Purpose – in looking back I feel my life has reflected these, though my wife suggests my parents already had planted these seeds. Either way, these principles undoubtedly guided me.
From South Kent I went to The College of Wooster, majoring in English History. And from there, I entered Cornell University Medical College (now called Weill Cornell Medical College) in New York City, following two uncles and an aunt who went there. I entered the US Navy after one year of residency, completed my surgical training at the Naval Hospital in Philadelphia, and spent three years at the Naval Hospital in Charleston, SC. My years in the Navy included overseas tours in the Mediterranean and four months with a surgical team on two ships in Vietnam.
I developed a solo surgical practice for 11 years in Mooresville, NC, relocated to Salisbury, NC, and, 12 years later, added a partner to start Salisbury Surgical Associates, PA. I retired from surgery in the summer of 1999.
I now enjoy my time around the house. I “make a lot of sawdust” in my garage shop and spend more time at church in the choir and with other activities. I’ve served two vestry terms at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury, and two terms as a trustee for Hood Theological Seminary, where I now am a trustee emeritus.
Long before I had heard about the St. Michael’s Society, I planned for my estate distribution to include educational institutions. My parents gave all four of their children educations, and I felt that, having done the same for my two, approximately 50% of the residual monies in my estate could be distributed to those institutions I/we felt had played – and still play – a role in my life. South Kent tops that list. The remaining monies will be distributed among my ‘other’ charities. This will occur after the second one of us dies. Hopefully, much still will be in tax-deferred IRA accounts and will be distributed directly and hence untaxed.
South Kent School is a great preparatory school. Its mission is very appropriate in today’s world. I am pleased and grateful to be able to continue to support it. I hope others will feel the same way.
Neilson Brown II '63
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Neilson Brown, a second-generation alumnus of SKS (his father, Hobson, ’34), has been an active volunteer of South Kent School for more than 25 years. He is a former chairman of the Board of Trustees. Neilson earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, and an MBA from Wharton. He believes in planned giving.
He and his wife Mary have included South Kent School in their estate planning. Neilson has established a specific nominal bequest in his will for SKS. Together they have agreed to name the School as a residual beneficiary of his IRA; SKS will receive a significant percentage of the then remaining principal.
Quoting Neilson, “Because of the double taxation of IRA benefits in a decedent’s estate, individuals should look first to their retirement plans, when considering a bequest to South Kent School, and leave other assets to their heirs. It’s almost a no brainer given the tax bite involved otherwise.”
Bonnie and Hank Steele '54
Indio, CA
Upon being invited to write about our decision to include South Kent in our estate plans, I began thinking about the school and all that it has meant to me.
Such thoughts led me to the SKS website where one of the first categories I saw was the daily menu. And what a menu it is. And a chef who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. Wow. For alumni of my era that’s pretty startling.
Of course, also listed and discussed on the website, are the core values – Simplicity of Life, Self-Reliance, Directness of Purpose. Even in those long-ago days, it was something of a culture shock to find out just how seriously Sam Bartlett took the value of simplicity.
Since our diets were restricted (one box of Milk Duds on Saturday night hardly counts), I think we should be forever grateful that there were those Sunday afternoon teas. Aside from ingesting as much sugar as possible, the caring family atmosphere at the faculty homes gave us some relief from the demands and isolation of life on the Hill.
I’m sure that many remember other examples of the caring faculty that helped us. During Fourth Form, I was failing Wynn Wister’s Latin class. He tutored me at night until I eventually grasped the joys of the ablative absolute. Frankly, I don’t know which helped me more; being tutored by Wynn or sitting afterward in their living room talking with him and Sally.
That summer, I worked on the school’s summer crew with Reuben Lee. Our jobs were basically the same as the student jobs during the school year with one big difference. We had the school jeep.
Evenings and weekends we could drive to Kent or Salisbury or Danbury or wherever. We also met the Kent school summer crew and frequently arranged to get together for nights of teenage fun. In effect, we had freedom.
Absent was the feeling of being locked up. Over the years after graduating, I used to think about whether our isolation was a good or bad aspect of our education. Was the caring, supportive atmosphere of South Kent too much of a warm nest. Were we being properly prepared for our adult lives or was there a reality factor missing?
One answer I found is to look at the core values as the big picture. Like having the jeep that summer. We had our freedom, but we also had to take care of the jeep. Another example from that summer is that Sam Bartlett told me to weed all the dandelions on Fathers’ Field. A few days later, I had to leave before the end of my contract due to a family emergency. I think I may have finished part of the end zone, and I forgot to explain my departure to Sam before I left.
When I returned in September, the Old Man took me aside and asked, “When are you going to finish your weeding job?” What could I say? He was right. It took me a while to see that he was kidding, but being Sam, he was still giving me a lesson in responsibility.
Bonnie shares my love and appreciation of the school and we are pleased to name South Kent as a principal charitable beneficiary. We hope others will do the same.
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