Giving Back & Planning Ahead
Fall 2015
The first thing Peter Hallock ’68 will tell you about his recent gift annuity at Clarkson is that he wishes he had done it sooner. Having recently also completed the planning for a civil engineering department endowment, Peter is happy to share how his Clarkson degree helped him launch his own successful career.
“I always try to give back,” Peter said, reflecting on his years in Potsdam where he made six of his closest friends and fell in love with the Adirondacks. Originally from Long Island, Peter wasn’t looking for the typical college escape, but one that offered little distractions and valued hard work. He credits the civil engineering department for developing his work ethic, and fondly remembers his time interning at Greenman-Pederson Engineering and Construction Services in Babylon, NY, a company started by fellow Clarkson alumnus Beecher Greenman ’50. Peter credits the close friends he made at Clarkson for keeping him connected to New York; he and his wife Beth also make time to visit the Adirondack region every few years.
Upon graduating from Clarkson, Peter joined the Navy for four years. Peter was stationed in Jacksonville, Florida, and after serving in the military, he chose to stay in Florida and began work at an engineering firm. For eleven years Peter progressed through the ranks, and finally decided to start his own business. With a vision to expand on the offerings of the firms where he had previously worked, Peter and two friends launched Prosser Hallock & Kristoff in 1985. Although he entered retirement once in 2010, his involvement with the business and engineering community proved to be far more suitable for his temperament. He continues to oversee many projects in Jacksonville, keeping himself busy until his next retirement.
When considering his retirement, Peter knew that he and his wife Beth would prefer to receive a stable income. Beth, the Regional Sales Manager of Small Business Lending at TD Bank, also values higher education. An Auburn University graduate, she too keeps in touch with several college friends and is an avid Tigers football fan. Both active in their annual giving, it was in 2012 that Peter had the inkling that a deferred gift annuity could be the right fit, but it wasn’t until a few years later that “the lightbulb went on,” and he contacted the Annie Clarkson Society via a reply card attached to a Society newsletter.
Already involved in several other scholarship endowment efforts with the Florida Engineering Society (of which Peter is a former chapter president), the Meninak Club of Jacksonville, and a Prosser Hallock endowed scholarship at the University of North Florida, Peter and Beth decided to make the gift to the civil engineering program. “I’ve always felt that the Clarkson undergraduate civil engineering program really did a great job of preparing me to hit the ground running and start my engineering career after completing my tour in the Navy.”
“The deferred gift annuity works for me because I don’t envision being fully retired and needing the income until 2018,” said Peter. A gift of appreciated securities allowed Peter and Beth to allocate those assets directly to Clarkson, which helped to recognize substantial tax benefits while preserving the value of the assets. Someday, the residuum from the annuity will fund an endowment for the civil engineering department.
Together, Elizabeth and Peter outlined an endowment agreement that will allow the civil engineering department to operate with additional funds in perpetuity. Peter acknowledges that the degree he earned from Clarkson is what prepared and equipped him for his current career path, and a deferred gift annuity allows him to continue that path while supporting the goals of Clarkson’s civil engineering students.