For Niel Leon, supporting UUSC—both its current work and future programs through a legacy gift intention—is one of the many ways he stays connected to his parents and wife Anne Jones who have sadly passed away.
Niel grew up attending West Lafayette UU Fellowship, now Tippecanoe UU Church, in West Lafayette, Indiana and remembers supporting UUSC together as a family. “I put money into the ‘milk carton’ every fall for UUSC, and the family participated in other UUSC fundraising events,” Niel recalls.
Involvement with UUSC was something Niel and Anne shared, too. “Since we have been together (over 34 years), we have been giving to UUSC,” Niel shares. “As we established our estate plans several years ago, we decided that our cash bank accounts would be placed POD (payable on death) to UUSC. It was a natural place to consider and could affect the most people in need.”
Wanting to help others, including through their philanthropy, is a core value Niel and Anne shared during their partnership. Niel describes of Anne: “She was a very energetic, intelligent, thoughtful, and caring person. Even at the end of her life, she had an overall cheery disposition. Treating everyone as a human being and working to make the world a better place.”
Niel holds similar values, explaining: “One of my missions and purposes is to leave this world a better place than when I entered it. I can do it financially, and I can do it as a design engineer by leaving a product and an educational legacy that improves the lives of those I know and will never meet.”
As a Senior Staff Engineer at Johns Hopkins University, working with researchers, students, and the university administration, Niel has the opportunity to do just that. But he was not always in the career position he is in—and he credits Anne with helping him out at a difficult time early in their relationship. From then on, they continued to show devotion and care for each other, including during the last three years of Anne’s life, until she passed in May 2025, when Niel served as her caretaker.
Continuing to support UUSC provides Niel another way to pay forward Anne’s generosity and care, while also helping him stay connected to his parents. He shares: “I would not be in the position I am in if it were not for her. I owed her more than I could ever repay.
Now she is with the ancestors, this is one way I can continue to honor her legacy and the legacy of my parents.”
UUSC is deeply grateful that Niel and Anne chose UUSC as one of the ways they extend their care for each other to the broader planet and world.
