In 1967, Mrs. Timmons established the Bess Spiva Timmons Foundation to enable her children and future generations to carry on an already existing program of assistance in areas of education, health, medical research, the arts, programs with minority focus, social services and ecology. Smaller and grass roots organizations were particularly targeted, as she stated that these could use the funds more frugally, and truly needed and appreciated encouragement.

Her life was filled with thoughtfulness and charity, often given anonymously. In her book “Yesterday,” written for her family to recall their legacy, she states that it was “a major blessing to grow up with the certain knowledge that ‘Man is the maker of himself,’ people are more important than possessions and a sense of humor is the salt of life.”

She passed away on June 15, 1987 at the age of 86, leaving a legacy that is a major blessing for her family and others for generations to come.

“We have each been given a bag of tools,
A formless rock and a book of rules
And each must make, ere life has flown,
A stumbling block or a stepping stone.”
-Author unknown