Leaving a Legacy That Lasts

"Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you." Isaiah 54:10

This scripture passage points out that some things in life are passing, even the mountains and the hills will be shaken, but that other things are permanent, like God's love for us. Dorothy Beyer's obituary included this scripture verse. We now know that Dorothy understood this great lesson of the passing and the permanent because today her legacy is perpetually living on in her gifts to Diocese of Fort Worth.

Dorothy's friends and distant family reminisced upon her death that she was a strong, kind and compassionate woman who was always smiling. Dorothy's daughter Brenda shares, "Her whole life wasn't about her. She was so very selfless."

The oldest child of 13, Dorothy grew up in a large, German Catholic farming family where everyone helped milk cows and pick cotton. She attended Catholic schools, graduating in 1946 from Sacred Heart High in Muenster, Texas. Three years later she would marry and continue to farm alongside her husband in Lindsay, Texas. Dorothy had four children and in 1968, at the death of her husband, would continue to farm, work in the local school district and raise her children.

Dorothy's life, not unlike most, was quiet and uncomplicated, but at times difficult. Her Catholic faith endured and held her in the moments of peace, happiness, struggle and sadness. Dorothy honored that which endures with a legacy gift made through an insurance annuity to St. Peter in Lindsay, St. John Paul II in Denton, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Muenster and the Sisters of Divine Providence, who were active in ministry at St. Peter. Her legacy gifts ensure her faith continues in the work of these Catholic entities and will help all of us remember her strength, kindness and compassion and be a lesson about the importance of the permanent.

To learn more about ways you can share your blessing with your local parish, like Dorothy did, contact Renée Underwood, CFRE at 817-533-7242 or plannedgiving@adv-fdn.org.