b'Itwasthroughtheselessons,andhardwork,thatheandHelenfoundfinancialsuccessandmadeincrediblememories traveling the globe until Helen developed lung cancer.My dear Helen. I tried to get her to stop smoking, but I just couldnt. You know, lung cancer moves pretty quicklytoyourbrain,Carlsaid.WhenwefoundoutaboutitIsaid,Helen,wehavetofigureoutwhattodo with our money. We had a lot of fun; we got to do a lot of things together. We never had children, and we didnt want to just give it all to our nieces and nephews. We love them; and we wanted them to make it on their own the way we did.Ultimately, Carl said they wanted to do something good with their money. When they decided to sell their tree farm, they took the proceeds to start a fund at the Community Foundation for Northeast Michigan, the Carl and Helen Basel MSU Scholarship Fund; and another through Alpena Community College. At CFNEMs annual scholarship luncheons, Carl rarely missed the opportunity to attend and mingle with the students whoseeducationsandfutureswouldbenefitfromhisandHelensphilanthropiclegacy.Heembracedtheopportunity to witness that philanthropy in action and meet his scholarships recipients.Movedtocontinuetheirtraditionofphilanthropyandhelpnextgenerationstobesuccessfulinthefieldsthat shaped their adult lives, Carl and Helen also established a scholarship for students at MSUs College of Natural Science in 1995, becoming members of MSUs Beaumont Tower Society before Helens death in 1998. Carl took many opportunities to remember Helen through philanthropy, including in 2007 when he became a Founding Member of CFNEMs Northeast Michigan Womens Giving Circle in her honor. In 2013, Carl decided to start an annual Outstanding Service Award in Forestry at MSU, and the Carl O. Basel EndowedScholarshipFundattheUniversityspecificallytosupportstudentsfromnortheastMichigan.Whenaskedabouthislegacyofgivingandhopesforthenextgeneration,Carl(whofirmlybelievedhewould not see his 100th birthday), said he hoped they would show the integrity and work ethic he feels is so needed in the world and our communities. Those qualities are what allowed him a successful career, and a tradition of philanthropy for our region, and he was thankful to be able to witness some of its effects during his lifetime.Im 99 years old. Ive lived a pretty good life. Im ready, he said.Carl passed away in May of 2020, eight and half months after his 100th birthday, leaving a legacy for himself and Helen that will last for generations to come.lPassion with a Purpose 10'