Retired Nurse Continues to Serve Others Through Two Endowments

Lydia Heck Copeland (’75, ’82) is creating a ripple effect of service to others by establishing two endowments at Midwestern State University in her estate plan. In 2018 she named MSU Texas as a partial beneficiary of her retirement plans to establish the Lydia Copeland Nursing Scholarship Endowment and the Stephen Dana Heck Fund for the MSU Fantasy of Lights.

As Lydia, a retired nurse, began to think about her estate plan, she spent time considering what was important in her life.

“What was important to me was serving others. I thought about how I was able to do that through my career but wondered how to continue it after I’m gone,” Lydia said. She considers her education one of the blessings that made it possible for her to serve others. She realized that others needed those same opportunities. Her will, she said, doesn’t just serve one person when she creates a scholarship endowment. The scholarship recipients will go out with their knowledge and continue to serve others.

Lydia’s plan to establish the Stephen Dana Heck Fund for the MSU-Burns Fantasy of Lights reflects the fond memories she created with her brother visiting the Burns Fantasy of Lights as a child. Stephen, she said, is someone who loves to have fun with his family. “That was such a fabulous childhood memory. I feel like when MSU took it over, that was the right answer. Now it’s secure and people can continue enjoying it.”