‘I Didn’t Want Students to Have to Struggle’

Growing up in the small town of Fairfax, Iowa, taught Brent Futrell, ’83, the value of hard work. Like many rural kids in the area, he spent his middle and high school years detasseling corn, baling hay and doing other farm work.

“We worked all the time,” Brent recalls. “I worked as a farmhand on crews with some of my friends. And they were farmers also, so when their parents gave them time off, we’d all go out and work some more.”

So when Norway High School handed Brent and his graduating class of 36 their diplomas, Brent set his sights on college with the hope of a more stable financial future. He enrolled at the University of Northern Iowa, studying marketing with a minor in industrial technology—the latter interest he developed through his father, a machinist. Brent describes himself as a “shop kid” who knew his way around a lathe and was interested in studying robotics at UNI.

Largely paying his own way through college, Brent admits the financial uncertainty was difficult. He credits UNI’s financial advisors and an on-campus job through a work-study with helping him find his way.

Similarly impactful on Brent was UNI’s marketing program. His professor, Steve Corbin, and other department faculty sparked his interest in sales, which would lead Brent to a successful 27-year career as a sales representative for Johnson & Johnson.

“I interviewed with many people over the years, international companies, and they all seem to value Midwestern students and graduates because of our work ethic,” Brent says. “That was certainly a part of my time with J&J.”

Now retired and living in Mississippi, Brent and his wife, Patti, decided the time was right to give back to their alma maters.

“I didn’t want students to have to struggle like I did, not knowing from one semester to another where to get the financing to continue my studies,” Brent says.

Brent worked with staff at the UNI Foundation to name the university as a beneficiary on his life insurance policy. His legacy gift will directly support students in the Department of Applied Engineering and Technical Management.

“It was a very smooth process, really,” Brent explains. “Patti and I have been together 35 years, and we’re at a point in our lives where we’re okay and neither of us really need the other’s policy. Supporting UNI has always been on my mind…after talking to Jane Halverson at the Foundation, making UNI a beneficiary of my life policy was the best option for me.”

To join Brent, and others like him, in supporting UNI students, contact Jane Halverson at (319) 273-4665 or jane.halverson@uni.edu. We would be happy to help find the best planned gift option for your needs—many of which are simple to set up, and make an incredible impact.