Now 98, Brigadier Bubsie Hopkinson has worked with the Salvation Army for most of her life. So, it seemed natural for her to make the church the beneficiary of her estate. In addition, a Salvation Army lawyer drew up her will free of charge, and the organization will act as her executor. She now lives in a comfortable assisted-living complex, also run by the Salvation Army.

“You could say the Salvation Army has been very good to me,” she says. In return, she is pleased to pay back some of what she’s gained by leaving the SA a bequest, through planned giving.

Bubsie admits she is not a wealthy woman. But that shouldn’t stop anyone from following her lead, says Janet Antonio, planned giving officer at the Salvation Army’s Vancouver headquarters.

“Often people say, ‘Oh, I don’t have enough to give,’” says Antonio. “But they might be surprised at what they have - an estate of any size can make a difference.” The SA, on occasion, will also act as executor of the estate, which is “very unusual. We might be the only charity in Canada that does this.”

In addition, people who know the SA have confidence in the organization, says Antonio. “Being a church, we have taken people in from the cradle to the grave, so to speak - so they trust us.”

After living through the Great Depression, Bubsie’s generation knows the value of a dollar; and those raised on farms realize that “you either all pulled together or you don’t get through the winter. They are a generous generation,” Antonio adds.

Bubsie Alice Mary Milsted - yes, Bubsie is on her birth certificate - grew up in Abbotsford, B.C. in a pioneering farm family. After her beloved grandmother passed away, Bubsie was introduced to the Salvation Army by a family she went to work for as a live-in nanny and all-around helper.

At 25, she left B.C. to attend the Army’s theological school in Toronto for two years - “called by God” to serve - and graduated as a lieutenant. One of her postings was Flin Flon, Manitoba, a place she remembers fondly. She gradually rose through the ranks to become a brigadier.

In 1943, she married Arthur Hopkinson, another Salvation Army officer, and both enjoyed postings in various parts of Canada, as well as two years in Germany at Armed Forces bases at Hanover and Soest. There, Bubsie was known as “Mom” by the young soldiers she encountered while running a canteen.

She retired in 1973, after several years as a “home officer” at the same theological college she had attended herself; a job she thoroughly enjoyed. She returned to the Vancouver area, where her four brothers lived (only one is still alive).

In assisted living since 2000, Bubsie enjoys tai chi and other activities. Once a keen birdwatcher, she also collects red glass objects. Beginning with a tiny bottle probably used for smelling salts that belonged to her grandmother, the collection has expanded considerably. “At Christmas, everyone says, ‘Oh, Bubsie collects red glass,’” she says.
Before she married Arthur, a doctor had advised Bubsie that she would be unable to have children, and “it wasn’t a grief to us,” she says. Without children and grandchildren to leave her estate to, the Salvation Army seemed a good choice.

For more information about planned giving, contact a favourite charity or go to Leave a Legacy Canada at www.leavealegacy.ca

NOVEMBER 2011 SENIOR LIVING MAGAZINE VANCOUVER & LOWER MAINLAND