Samuel Elliott Perkins IV Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Perkins Family Charitable Bequest

As a cartographer for the U.S. State Department, Samuel E. Perkins IV and his wife, Mary, lived much of their lives in Europe before retiring to Lake Maxinkuckee. Along the way, they amassed an estate worth $4.2 million. With no children, their decision to create a charitable bequest not only benefited the couple financially during their lives, but also the Marshall County Community Foundation upon their deaths, and, in the process, their estate paid no federal estate tax and very little Indiana inheritance tax. Successive generations of the Perkins family have lived on Lake Maxinkuckee since 1917. Samuel Perkins was a graduate of Culver Summer Camps (Woodcraft Camp in 1923 and the Naval School in 1927). He had worked for the U.S. Department of Commerce, served with the U.S. Navy during World War II and then served with the U.S. Foreign Service in Paris and Brussels. He and his wife traveled extensively and much of their personal property was acquired in Europe. The couple’s estate included the lake property and the money generated by a two-day personal property auction that attracted hundreds of buyers. The personal property included Culver memorabilia, World War II and Nazi memorabilia, antiquarian maps, political buttons, furniture, oriental rugs, glass, pottery, small primitives and assorted collectibles. The charitable bequest was a simple way to handle a classic estate. The Perkinses were able to retain and use their assets until they died, then the estate was divided tax free among four designated, recognizable charities. MCCF was one of those, receiving $1.2 million toward scholarships for county residents to attend Purdue University, Mr. Perkins’s alma mater. If the couple had left the entire estate to nieces and nephews rather than charities, for example, about one half of the total estate ($2 million) would have been used to satisfy state and federal death taxes. By 2013, the generosity and foresight of Sam and Mary Perkins had already improved the lives of fifty-five Marshall County students by awarding over $196,000 in scholarships.