Margo and Greg Dexter

"You think about thanking people in your life, and sometimes it's too late or you never do it. This is a way of giving back and thanking Pace." - Margo Dexter

"People think the expectation for a planned gift is a huge amount, and that's not the case. It's just a way to tell the school you are grateful for what it did for your children. Your gift is what you feel you can give." - Greg Dexter

MARGO and GREG DEXTER , the parents of Pace Academy alumni and, in years past, deeply engaged school volunteers, added Pace as a beneficiary in their wills more than a decade ago. The couple, who made their bequest arrangements well before The Castle Circle was in place to recognize Pace's planned gift donors, has a strong desire to give back to Pace,

Married over 50 years, the Dexters are proud of their children, BLAKE DEXTER '90 and BARCLAY DEXTER '94, who enrolled at Pace in 1981, in the third grade and Pre-First, respectively.

Greg reflects, "As parents, we entrust our children to their school for eight hours a day. When you are proud of the adults your children have become, you know the school deserves a lot of credit. Our planned gift is a way to thank Pace."

The Dexters are also current Pace grandparents to TRACE DEXTER '30, Blake's son. The couple loves coming to campus for Grandparents & Special Friends Day and other occasions. "Seeing teachers we know and our children's friends and their parents is always fun and brings back good memories," Margo says.

During their 13 years as Pace parents the couple found many opportunities to be involved. "It became an important part of our lives," Margo explains. She served in many volunteer roles including co-chair of the annual auction, known now as the Auction & Celebration. "It has grown into an amazing event," she says. "The first ones were held in unfinished office spaces!"

Greg served on the Board of Trustees and during his tenure was instrumental in the fundraising and planning for undertakings that brought to campus the Inman Center and the Fine Arts Center. Today, he serves as a Pace Life Trustee.

He refers to the Pace his children attended as "a little tiny school on the side of the street" in comparison to today's Pace. "We thought the expansions when our children attended were quite something; now the physical plant is very impressive—and expensive to maintain," he adds.

That's one reason the Dexters believe that planned gifts—especially those which are unrestricted—are vital to the school. Unrestricted planned gifts, when received, add to Pace's general endowment and, as Greg explains, a strong endowment is very important to the financial viability of every nonprofit institution. "The more resources an entity has, the better off it will be," he says. "Developing an endowment will help Pace to cover its future needs."

Greg adds, "Planned giving is easy to do. It costs a little to visit your will, but the concept is easy. And you can change your gift depending on your circumstances; we've continued to add to ours each time we revisit our wills. We also know we have the option to direct our bequests if we wanted to."

He adds, "People think the expectation for a planned gift is a huge amount, and that's not the case. It's just a way to tell the school you are grateful for what it did for your children. Your gift is what you feel you can give."

Margo says, "You think about thanking people in your life, and sometimes it's too late or you never do it. This is a way of giving back and thanking Pace."