By Craig Gilbert
November 20th, 2024
Longtime Rotarian Steve McEachern left his estate to Rotary International. His widow says he wished to change this before his death.
Steve McEachern was an Edmonton Rotarian for 45 years. He left his estate, significant in both dollars and property, to The Rotary Foundation Canada. Now his widow, Mary McEachern says her husband’s final wishes changed before his death in October 2020. The estate also left a carve-out designed to allow Mary, now 101, to live the life she was accustomed to until her own passing.
Brian Edwards, district governor, Rotary District 5370, says the international charity wants nothing but resolution in a dispute between the widow of a deceased Rotarian and his will, which left his estate to the organization.
Rotarians are no strangers to end-of-life endowments and other donations. But Dean Rohrs, an Ontario-based director of The Rotary Foundation Canada, said this is the first time she’s experienced being at loggerheads in quite this manner.
“We don’t run into these kind of problems – not from our side,” she told the Gazette via Zoom. “This is from the donor side. We’re one of the very, very few organizations that can say we follow the directions of the donor. We are just the fiduciary agents to ensure what they want is delivered.”
The organization argues the dispute is between the family and the wording of the will, not with Rotary, and that they only became aware of it 18 months ago. It is also critical of “misleading headlines” that have appeared in recent weeks, according to a message sent to local Rotary members.
“This is Mrs. McEachern fighting her husband’s will,” she said. “It’s not us.”
Rohrs said the charity has an obligation to handle the funds entrusted to it responsibly. That includes vetting whether there are liens or other concerns attached to the money or the real property that’s part of the estate, which she said the family has not provided. Rotary has described the estate as “complicated.”
Without these accounting questions answered, Rohrs said Rotary can’t in good conscience release the funds to another party.
“It would be solved tomorrow if we had that information … if we had clarity on the assets, if we had clarity on what was happening,” she said. “We do not want to be in the courts.”
