“I want my legacy to be that I have helped carry these traditions forward to others.”
– Bill Duffy
When William “Bill” Duffy opened an email from the Catholic Community Foundation in the summer of 2025, he didn’t expect it would lead him to reexamine his legacy of faith. That message introduced him to My Catholic Will, the CCF’s new planned-giving platform, designed to make it easy for donors to create a will and, if they choose, include bequests that strengthen Catholic ministries, parishes, and schools that have shaped their spiritual lives.
Beyond the small hurdle of the platform’s font, Mr. Duffy found the process simple and easy; it was inspiring. “The platform offered a wide variety of institutions to remember in my estate,” he said, “individual parishes and schools, but also programs, like the Annual Appeal for Catholic Ministries, to choose from. My Catholic Will made it inviting and almost effortless for me to make a significant gift in support of my faith after my passing.”
Mr. Duffy chose for his bequests CCF endowments that benefit the Annual Appeal as well as parishes and schools across our Archdiocese, enabling continued streams of revenue that will enhance these entities for generations to come.
The decision to give was resoundingly personal. “I have a personal connection to parishes and schools in the Archdiocese, like St. Joseph Passionate Monastery, St. Clement I, and formerly, St. Martin’s,” he reflected. “I was fortunate to be taught by religious instructors and to grow up at a time when these parishes and schools had more people attending who could support them financially. I know my instructors must be in heaven now. My hope is that my bequests will help close a financial gap that has resulted in the loss of the local Church population’s ‘critical mass.’ I want my legacy to be that I have helped carry these traditions forward to others.”
Garrett Schiche, Senior Director for the CCF, said the Foundation’s choice to adopt the My Catholic Will platform was an obvious one. “The platform is free – even if you leave no bequest to the Archdiocese – straightforward, and the whole process only takes about 15 minutes to complete.”
For Bill Duffy, those 15 minutes became a lasting act of faith, one that ensures his love for the Church will continue to nurture parishes, schools, and ministries long after his lifetime.
Faith remains Mr. Duffy’s anchor. “When I attend Mass, and I view the altar, the candles, all of it…I appreciate the consistency, the constancy, the unchanging nature of our faith,” he said. “It reminds me of our connection to the Lord, to Salvation, to what comes after this life.”
