Marybell Everhart

Life has surprising twists and turns, and the surprise that Marybell Everhart bestowed upon The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in 2009 was a big one – $3,000,000 big. In fact, Mrs. Everhart left the vast majority of her estate to the Community Foundation to benefit the church and established The Dr. David Everhart, Jr. and Marybell C. Everhart Charitable Fund.

Church officials and members had no idea of Mrs. Everhart's plan and were truly overwhelmed when they received the good news that her estate provisions created a fund that will distribute 5 percent of the annual market value of the fund to the church.

Marybell Everhart and her husband, Dr. David Everhart, Jr., a local dentist, owned a summer home in Braddock Heights, Maryland and attended services at their church almost every Sunday. After Dr. Everhart passed away and Mrs. Everhart was no longer able to attend services, several church members continued to visit and described her as a gracious lady with a keen sense of humor.

"Mrs. Everhart's gift has helped us build infrastructure that will allow us to move forward with other projects in the future," said John Tisdale, Senior Warden of the church. "We are a very humble church. We've always just gotten by financially. I think Mrs. Everhart realized that and felt that's where her estate should go. She trusted us to make good decisions."

By creating the fund benefitting The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, Mrs. Everhart also placed her trust in the Community Foundation to carry out her charitable intentions. Her vision is For Good. Forever. For Frederick County.