Perfect Pairing

Noah’s Ark restaurant has long been a staple along Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines. Just as iconic as the restaurant’s pizza and calzones are its staff. Staff like Margaret Kitzrow. For over 45 years, Margaret was a waitress at Noah’s, where she treasured her guests. Margaret’s regulars knew she had a big heart and a listening ear, but they couldn’t have imagined the plans Margaret was putting in place to leave a charitable legacy.

“I met Margaret in the early 1990s while I was working at a bank on Ingersoll Avenue,” shared Mike Tracy, a financial consultant with ONEWEALTH Personalized Wealth Management. “She would come in and make her deposits and withdrawals, but one day she was referred to me because she had saved some money she wanted to invest.” That first meeting became monthly meetings for the remainder of Margaret’s life. Mike added, “Margaret was laser-focused on growing the $10,000 she had saved into $1 million. She would meet with me every month to check on her investments, but more importantly, she always checked in on me. Her first questions were always inquiring about my family and me. That is just who Margaret was.”

Mike shifted their monthly conversations as Margaret’s investment began to near her goal amount. “I asked Margaret what she wanted to do with this money. Margaret was very clear in her response; she wanted to give most of it to charity,” said Mike. “As we talked, I shared that was an option, but would she consider making a difference for years to come rather than making a one-time gift? She loved that idea, so I connected her with the Community Foundation.” Per Margaret’s instruction, over $1,000,000 was used from her estate to establish the Margaret Kitzrow Charitable Fund at the Community Foundation. This permanent endowment honors Margaret by making annual gifts to her charity of choice, the local chapter of the American Diabetes Association. 

“I have friends who ate at Noah’s weekly because they knew they would see and talk with Margaret. She was beloved,” said Mike. “Thanks to her charitable fund at the Community Foundation, the consistent and steadfast support Margaret provided to customers during her lifetime will continue through her charitable giving. It is the perfect pairing.”