John's Plan

Through thoughtful estate planning, John B. Lord established a Revocable Living Trust to provide for the material needs of his wife until her passing in 2018. The Trust also made provisions for his children and his favorite charities. EWTN was honored to be one of those charities. However, none of this would have happened if John had not taken the time to contemplate, plan, and execute the largest financial transaction of his life. Most of us budget each year so we can provide for ourselves, our loved ones, and our favorite charities, but how many of us take the time to discuss and strategize what is most likely the largest financial transfer of our lives... our estate plan?
Unfortunately, some estimates show that over 50% of Americans die without any plans for the transfer of their assets. Whether you have a significant or a modest amount of assets, you are still responsible for the stewardship of the assets that God has entrusted to you. God has also entrusted you with the distribution of those assets, whether they be to family, friends, the government (unintentionally, in the form of income and/or estate taxes), or charity. John's son (his Trustee) explained to me the significant milestones in John's life and how, amidst all the ups and downs, trials and joys in his life, his faith was so important to him. John's son also shared how EWTN played a significant role at the end of John's earthly life.

John's Life

John Baldwin Lord was born in and grew up in a Chicago suburb. Courageously serving his country in World War II, John's B-24 was shot down behind enemy lines, and he spent time in a POW camp. John had been seriously burned when his plane was attacked by enemy fire, and while in captivity he suffered frostbite and near-starvation. In April 1945 John Baldwin and the airmen were rescued by American troops. Back in a military camp, he wrote in his memoirs, "Another POW and I spent most of that night drinking milk and eating bread, butter, and jelly until we were sick." Later in life, John tracked down the British doctor who had treated the serious burns that resulted from his plane being shot down.
After the war John came home, and in December 1948 married Marian Johannes of Chicago. He and Marian raised six children. John became a successful chemical engineer, working for Betz Laboratories in Chicago and, after 1959, as a plant manager in Philadelphia and Trevose, PA. He was a senior consultant for Betz when he retired as a plant manager in the late 1980s. John and Marian were married for over 40 years, until Marian's death in 1989. John remarried in 1994, and eventually moved to a retirement community in South Carolina. It was there that John, who had always been religious and had a devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, became even more focused on his and his family's personal salvation. He began to watch EWTN with increasing frequency in order to supplement the knowledge and practice of his Catholicism. The content he viewed and pondered became a source of not only comfort, but also of increasing devotion to his faith. As his health declined and he became unable to participate in many of the things he had liked to do: travel, play bridge with friends, and discuss his war experiences, he relied more and more on EWTN programming for personal solace.

Today, John's generous legacy gift has made it possible for EWTN to produce and transmit programming that enables others to learn about the Catholic faith. John took the time to contemplate his legacy with regard to his family and his charities. John chose to make EWTN part of his legacy, so that others might experience and learn their Catholic faith. May John and all the faithful departed rest in peace.

If you would like to learn more about the benefits of charitable estate planning, please contact Ryan Flood, EWTN's Legacy Giving Advisor, at (205) 569.2674. You may also visit our Legacy Giving website at ewtn.giftlegacy.org.