Inspired by Friendship: Bill and Rita Bruce’s Gifts Transcend Faith

Bill and Rita Bruce have six children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, a far-flung family they call “the light of our lives.” But when they made their first major gift to HIAS, it was in memory of two friends: Stefan and Henrietta Diament.

The Bruces first came to know the Diaments professionally when Bill, a practicing attorney, was running for the Tennessee state legislature in the 1960s and contracted Stefan, a printer, to create his campaign materials. “They all had the union logo on them,” Bill recalls, “because Mr. Diament was a union printer, which was good for me.”

The Diaments were also Holocaust survivors. They had been separated by the war but reunited afterward. In Memphis, Bill says, they “made a wonderful life for themselves and had a family.”

After the two couples became friends, the Diaments invited the Bruces to a few events at their temple. “We appreciated their friendship,” Bill says. “We appreciated the chance to get to know them. So when an opportunity for a charitable gift annuity came along, we thought the Diaments were the logical ones to dedicate it to.”

Bill and Rita began researching various organizations. They were drawn to HIAS for its “effectiveness as a means of getting help to refugees who need it, regardless of their faith.” As Christians who take their faith seriously, it was important to the Bruces that their gifts to HIAS feel consistent with their values and their belief in doing “good works.” Bill emphasizes: “We see HIAS as an organization whose mission transcends any particular faith.”

The Bruces were drawn to the benefits of charitable gift annuities, which allow them to make a gift to HIAS and not only receive an immediate tax deduction but also a fixed annual income for life. They’ve set up several of these gifts now, along with a qualified charitable distribution, which allows donors to make a charitable gift directly from their IRA accounts of funds that would otherwise be taxable.

For the Bruces making a major gift to HIAS that would have an impact for decades to come and help sustain them in their later years made sense, for their hearts and their bank accounts. And giving in memory of Stefan and Henrietta reaffirmed their lifelong commitment to equity and human rights.

And those campaigns Stefan helped on? They were successful. Bill wound up serving in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 1966 to 1968 and the Tennessee Senate from 1968 to 1972, including two years as the senate democratic majority leader—a time of great progress, as well as pain, for the civil rights movement. Today he and Rita have retired to southeast Georgia. But their decades in Memphis, including their friendship with the Diaments, remain a pivotal part of their life, and of the legacy they’ll leave behind.