Tekoa anticipates $2.2 million cemetery gift

The city of Tekoa is preparing for a $2.2 million gift to the endowment of the town’s Goldenrod Cemetery.

The pending donation comes from a trust set up by a late, longtime Tekoa accountant and bookkeeper, Eleanor Cohn. She set up the trust for the care of her daughter Judy Cohn, who died this past December.

Eleanor died in 2009.

The terms of the trust, which was the subject of a court dispute, deemed that after Judy’s death, the remaining funds would go to the Goldenrod Cemetery Perpetual Care Endowment Fund.

“Eleanor’s wishes were fulfilled according to her trust,” said Gary Libey, Colfax attorney representing Gloria Rasmussen, trustee for the estate.

The donation to the cemetery is expected to go through by the end of the year, Tekoa Mayor John Jaeger said.

“I don’t think we’re talking months. We’re probably talking weeks,” he said. “They’re just tying some strings in the whole estate. It’s a complicated deal. It just took time. We’ve never worried about it. Never.”

The Tekoa cemetery is operated by the city, as opposed to many others in the county which are run by cemetery districts. Tekoa’s annual budget for the cemetery is an estimated $14,000.

The annual Tekoa budget has been spent in addition to the interest earnings of $100,000 in the Goldenrod endowment.

“It wasn’t drawing enough interest,” Jaeger said, explaining that the endowment’s interest from the money is all that is allowed to be spent.

The mayor emphasized the importance of the cemetery being in good condition.

“For the people that come to Tekoa, a good percentage will go to the cemetery to visit a family member buried there. Often times the condition of the cemetery will be the impression they have of our town.”

The new endowment funds are expected to go toward general improvements such as a booster pump and larger water lines, along with a memorial to the Cohn family.

“We’ll get more water up there,” Jaeger said. “Other than the memorial, that’ll be the first project. There’s a real need for some capital improvements up there.”

The last round on the estate dispute came to an end when a petition filed against the trustee on behalf of Judith Cohn was dismissed after her death in December of 2013.

The petition contended Judith’s needs, after she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, increased to $45,000 a month after she went into hospice care. A response to the petition noted the trustee would pay $21,000 a month and contended some of the care expenses should be provided out of Judith’s own estate.

Carol Cook, who acted as Judith’s nurse in the last eight years of her life, is now working to close out Judy’s estate, of which she is the executor.

“Judy had to fight for any percent. She died without receiving the care she could have. With $2 million, I think we could’ve had a harpist playing.”

The estate is made up of tangible items, independent of the money in the endowment.

“To amass a fortune like that from a small accounting practice in Tekoa is astonishing,” Libey commented.