Nov./Dec. response: Home Sweet Legacy Home

A planned gift with great meaning

by Christi Campos

When new United Women in Faith board member Kelly G. Loeb first moved to Kansas City, Missouri, to attend school, she was blessed to find a church home at St. Andrew United Methodist Church. And there she met a very special mentor, Mai Gray, the first African American national president of our organization. 

The beloved Gray served from 1976 to1980 as president of the Women’s Division and was instrumental in drafting our Charter for Racial Justice. Many of us knew and admired her.

“I can remember Ms. Gray having me over to her beautiful home for lunch many times and talking with me about my future,” Loeb said. “She was an amazing woman.”

Loeb went on to get her master’s degree in social work and has worked with older adults, specializing in Alzheimer’s awareness throughout her career.

“Shortly after Ms. Gray’s passing in 2010, I was driving past her house on Benton Boulevard and saw a ‘for sale’ sign,” Loeb explained. “I remember thinking, ‘someone nice should buy that house.’ Then I heard God’s voice say, you’re nice; you should buy it. I was able to get a first-time homeowner’s loan, and less than a week later I was signing papers. It was meant to be!”

Loeb speaks of how much it means to her to live in Rev. and Mai Gray’s home and how she has kept in contact with their children, who are pleased she is caring for the home.

“I have even found old paperwork of Ms. Gray’s from the time she was national president in the built-in file cabinets downstairs,” Loeb said. “I am humbled by the fact that I am now serving on the board that she once chaired. It must be all in God’s plan!”

Loeb thought it was also in God’s plan to graciously donate her special home as a planned gift to The Legacy Endowment Fund so that Mai Gray’s legacy, and her own, will live on.

“I dated my letter of intent for my planned gift August 20th because that was my beloved grandmother Grace’s birthday,” explained Loeb. “She was born in 1922, the same year as Mai Gray, and would have been 102 this year. It feels wonderfully fitting to mark this legacy designation with that date.” 

If you are interested in joining Loeb as an 1869 Society member and making a planned gift, please feel free to contact a development officer by e-mail at legacy150@uwfaith.org, or by calling 1-800-278-7771. We can walk you through your options and answer any questions you may have. You may also want to check out our helpful planned giving pages at uwfgift.org. Thank you for building our legacy! 

Deaconess Christi Campos is the executive for Development and Donor Relations.

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