When This Couple’s Estate Gift Nearly Routed to the Wrong Place, John Motley ’83 Guided It Back Home to the Corps of Cadets.

John Motley ’83 proves the importance of selecting a trustworthy executor/trustee in his recent experience helping direct his family's legacy gift.

By Dorian Martin ’06

Photos provided by John Motley '83

March 23, 2026

John Motley ’83 still relishes his boyhood memories of spending time with his aunt and uncle, Morynne and Bob Motley.

The couple, who stepped in to provide support after John’s mother died when he was 9, flew the youngster to Los Angeles during summers. While Disneyland and other iconic California experiences were part of the agenda, John remembers being equally enthusiastic about punching the time clock at his uncle’s factory and earning his first paycheck for putting labels on mayonnaise jars.

Those summer visits created a strong relational bond, leading Morynne and Bob to ask John to serve as their estate’s successor trustee after their only child died in 1999.

And thanks to John and seven other family members who were Aggies — including Zolus Motley ’42, a member of Texas A&M University’s 1939 national championship football team — the couple developed a deep appreciation for Texas A&M. As a result, Morynne and Bob designated funds from multiple trusts to establish 11 endowed Corps of Cadets scholarships that today are carrying on their wishes and their legacy.

But it was a gift that almost never came to be.

Bob Motley

Charmed Lives

John was always captivated by his aunt and uncle, both of whom had humble beginnings. The son of an oil field worker in Monahans, Texas, Bob found numerous ways to excel. “He was the ultimate man’s man,” John remembered. “He was named ‘Most Handsome’ and ‘Most Likely To Succeed’ in high school and was captain of the football team, editor of the school newspaper and drum major of the band.”

Bob had already graduated when he met Morynne, a Monahans High School senior originally from Oklahoma. “Morynne was as powerful a woman as he was a strong man,” John said. “She and Bob got married soon after she graduated high school, and they’d only known each other a short time.”

Morynne Motley

The newlyweds moved to Dallas, where their son, Robert Motley Jr. was born, before relocating to California where Bob accepted a job in sales. But their early family life was soon interrupted by World War II. Bob enlisted and was stationed in the Philippines while Morynne worked as an expediter at the Kaiser Shipyards in California.

Around the same time, John’s parents also stepped up to serve. His father, Lt. Col. William Motley Sr., was stationed in Germany while his mother, Evelyn, joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). “My mother dropped out of school in ninth grade to help support the family after her father died in a train accident,” John said. “She worked at sweatshop jobs, first in a candy store and then in an electronics factory, so when the Army created the WAAC in 1942, she saw an opportunity to do something different with her life.”

She went on to earn the rank of major in the Signal Corps, where she worked in cryptography. “Morynne always had the greatest respect for my mother, who served in the military until 1954,” John said. “She only left because she got pregnant with my brother, and at that time, a woman couldn’t be pregnant and be in the military. Morynne always felt that my mother had gotten the short end of the deal and that the military was unfair to her.”

Sound Investing

After Evelyn’s death, Morynne made sure to regale John with stories about his mother during those first California visits. But the couple also wanted to prepare him for the future.

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Soon, Morynne and Bob were teaching their nephew about money and investing, including buying a share of Disney stock in the young boy’s name. “Bob had a gift for business while Morynne had a Midas touch — everything she touched just turned to gold,” John said. “Bob realized early on that if you wanted to get ahead in life, you couldn’t do it on a single income. You needed one income to pay the bills and live on, and a second income to accumulate wealth.”

Those lessons landed. John used what he learned from his aunt and uncle to build a solid financial foundation for his own family. He also followed their lead in beginning to look for ways to help others.

In 1999, John applied these lessons when he decided to create a Sul Ross Scholarship honoring his mother. At the time, he worked for Johnson & Johnson, which offered a matching program. “It was a two-for-one match, so I created a $25,000 scholarship and only had to pay $8,333 from my own pocket,” he said. “That was a really good deal because I still had two small children.”

Yet he soon realized that he could leverage that original gift even more, thanks to a $2 million matching gift that Bum Bright ’43 created to support the Corps of Cadets. “When I set up the scholarship for my mother, I found out that because I was giving $25,000 to the Corps — even though part of it came from my employer — Bum’s gift would match it in its entirety,” John said.
“I decided to establish a second scholarship in honor of my father and was able to generate $50,000 in scholarship funds, all from that $8,333.”

Morynne and Bob were impressed with John’s return on investment and planned to follow suit in making their own gift to support the Corps. However, Bob experienced substantial mental decline due to Alzheimer’s disease, so the gift was never finalized.

Planning Ahead

Fortunately, the couple, who over the years had amassed a complicated estate that included real estate, businesses, art and other treasures, had the foresight to create multiple trusts, including a charitable remainder trust. “They lived off the income of that trust while they were still alive,” John said. “Then immediately upon their death, the remainder got dispersed to various charities, including Texas A&M.”

After Bob’s and Morynne’s deaths in 2008 and 2017, respectively, John stepped into the role of successor trustee of their multiple trusts, using his financial expertise to handle the complexities over the next five years.

"My aunt taught me that these types of financial decisions might seem like pennies to the giver, but it can make a significant difference in the life of the recipient."
John Motley '83

One major hurdle involved the couple’s gift to support the Corps. The California attorney who had drawn up the various trusts didn’t differentiate between Texas A&M and the Texas A&M Foundation, which is the philanthropic entity supporting the university. The trusts specified in writing that nearly $1 million needed to be allocated directly to the university, even though the couple had verbally stated they wanted to allocate the funds for Corps scholarships. “Legally, these funds would go to the Texas A&M general fund, which the university can use for water and electric bills,” John explained.

Fortunately, the wording across their multiple trusts made it clear that Morynne and Bob had the intent to honor Evelyn with Corps scholarships. Working together, attorneys from the Texas A&M Foundation and Texas A&M arrived at the same conclusion and rerouted the funds through the Texas A&M Foundation. As a result, the Motleys’ gift endowed eight Corps 21 Scholarships and three Sul Ross Scholarships, all of which have been supporting deserving Aggies since 2019.

John is thankful that Morynne and Bob decided to support future generations of young men and women who are trying to find their place in the world like he was. “To me, that’s their lasting legacy because their gift will benefit students in the Corps of Cadets forever,” he said. “My aunt taught me that these types of financial decisions might seem like pennies to the giver, but it can make a significant difference in the life of the recipient.”

Disclaimer: Fortunately for John, his aunt and uncle very clearly documented their gift intent across various trusts, allowing legal counsel to agree on the gift usage. However, this scenario — of the trust or will naming the university as the beneficiary, rather than the Foundation — happens often, and each case is legally evaluated on an individual basis. If you are planning an estate gift to support your passions in Aggieland, it is important to work with the Texas A&M Foundation Charitable Gift Planning Team to ensure your gift is properly directed and fulfills your specific philanthropic goals.