Inside My Estate Plan: A Legacy of Service, Resilience & Hope

As part of our Inside My Estate Plan series, we are honored to highlight the powerful stories of Trust & Will members who’ve chosen to include charitable giving within their legacy plans. These features reveal the deeply personal motivations behind estate planning — the values, gratitude, and generational memories that inspire someone to give back long after their lifetime.

Today, we share the story of Angela W., whose gift reflects a lifetime shaped by military service, sacrifice, and a commitment to supporting the heroes who often return home with battles still left to fight.

Why Angela Chose Rescue 22 Foundation

For Angela, supporting veterans is not just a cause — it’s a thread woven through her family’s history. She grew up immersed in stories of service and sacrifice, and even in the silence around those stories. Her grandfather, who served on the USS Napa, never spoke about his military experience. “That wealth of experience died with him,” she shared, recalling how his pain lingered quietly beneath the surface.

Her family’s legacy reaches even further back. Angela was raised with a sense of responsibility to honor her great-uncle, PFC Frederick Carl Sell, who died during the Bataan Death March. Her father, unable to serve due to hearing loss, devoted himself to passing down the importance of repatriating Uncle Carl and keeping his memory alive. Angela herself had once hoped to serve, but life took her down a different path. Including Rescue 22 Foundation in her estate plan became a way to continue that service in her own meaningful way.

“I was not able to serve in the manner I wanted, so I found another way,” she explained. “When I am no longer here, this legacy will also be another way for me to serve without serving, so that others will get the help they so rightly deserve.”

Angela believes deeply in the gaps that exist for veterans returning to civilian life — the emotional trauma, the physical wounds, and the overwhelming expectation that they simply “go back to normal” after experiences that change them forever. “They are honed for months, years, to become hardened warriors yet are expected to reintegrate when processed out as if what they experienced was just another Tuesday,” she said.

This understanding led her to Rescue 22 Foundation.

About Rescue 22 Foundation

Rescue 22 Foundation provides highly trained service dogs to veterans living with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, mobility challenges, and other service-related disabilities. Each dog is trained for specific tasks — from interrupting panic attacks to assisting with mobility and providing emotional grounding. These dogs are life-changing companions, often offering a renewed sense of hope where traditional treatment avenues fall short.

To learn more about Rescue 22 Foundation, visit: https://www.rescue22foundation.org

The Impact Angela Hopes to Make

Angela dreams of creating even one moment of relief, one moment of safety, for someone who has served. She hopes her gift will translate to a single service dog for a single veteran — and if that happens, she feels her life and her legacy will have meaning.

“If I can help one warfighter by giving them one dog that is trained to help them with one or two tasks that will make their life easier, then my death will not have been in vain,” she shared. “That will be one less to add to the 22 per day.”

Her support is a deeply human acknowledgment that behind every statistic is a life, a story, and someone who deserves healing.

A Reflection of Who Angela Is

Angela’s decision reflects a profound sense of patriotism, honor, and duty — values she feels are fading from the American landscape. Giving back through her estate plan allows her to keep that spirit alive. It is both a tribute to her ancestors and a heartfelt act of service to future generations of veterans.

Her legacy gift is a continuation of her family’s story, a commitment to ensuring that those who serve are never forgotten, and a personal way to carry forward the values she was raised with.

A Final Note — And How You Can Make an Impact Too

If you have a nonprofit or cause you care deeply about, Trust & Will makes it simple to include charitable giving in your estate plan — whether through a will or trust.

Start your plan today:

• Start your will

• Start your trust

If you're a nonprofit interested in partnering with Trust & Will, visit: https://trustandwill.com/professionals/nonprofits