William “Billy” Rodriguez and the late Blaine Knous, who passed away in July 2024 after a courageous battle with cancer, are leaving a legacy of impact that lasts long beyond their lifetimes.
Billy and Blaine met at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, where Billy was in the choir and Blaine was an usher. They were partners for 14 years. As members of CFT’s legacy society, the Live Oak Society, they named CFT as a beneficiary in their estate plan, alongside 250 individuals and couples whose legacies we currently steward or will steward beyond their lifetime.
Billy Rodriguez first learned about CFT through his service on several local nonprofit boards, including Reading & Radio Resource, a nonprofit that provided audio access to printed material for those with blindness or with barriers to reading. The nonprofit created the Reading Resource Fund at CFT in 2015 after the sale of their building to continue furthering their mission for decades to come, and Billy then served on the fund’s advisory board at CFT.
Billy and Blaine have been service-minded their entire lives – Blaine through his support of students and after-school programs, and Billy through his volunteerism with local nonprofits.
“One of the things I love about our city is that Dallas welcomes everyone to be part of its culture of generosity. No matter who you are, or how you arrived here, there’s an opportunity to give back. When I first moved here, I was told, ‘If you’re going to live in Dallas, you’ve got to give in Dallas,’” said Billy.
In the midst of supporting Blaine through his cancer treatments, Billy attended a planned giving event in partnership with Resource Center in 2023, where he heard from CFT fundholders Andy Smith and Paul von Wupperfeld about their commitment to supporting nonprofits through their estate in partnership with CFT.
At the time, Billy and Blaine had just offered a matching gift to Resource Center to encourage others to support their work during Pride Month, helping to double donations.
Billy was further inspired and wanted to make a bequest in support of Resource Center. The Resource Center team encouraged him to work through CFT to plan and manage the gift of complex assets.
“It was a blessing to be able to work together with Blaine before he passed away to identify the causes our legacy would support,” said Billy.
Together they chose to support LGBTQIA+ and the Resource Center as their primary cause, along with causes they’ve both supported throughout their lives: animals, economic/financial security, education (including literacy at the elementary school level), and environment and conservation.
“Knowing that we have all this planned for, that our wishes will continue to be met after we’re both gone, and that CFT will be here investing our resources for the long-term in support of our shared priorities, is all we could have hoped for,” said Billy. “Through CFT, we’ve also ensured that we can be memorialized together, which was important to us.”
Blaine was a beloved public school physical education teacher in Dallas since 2008, where he spent 16 memorable years teaching at Dallas ISD’s John F. Peeler Elementary School. He also loved animals, especially dogs, and was an avid gardener, runner, and reader. Thanks to the posthumous donations made by many of Blaine and Billy’s family and friends, the students at Peeler now benefit from a book vending machine, a memorial garden, as well as a running club all established in Blaine’s honor to commemorate his passions after his passing.
“Blaine had such a nurturing way in all that he did. This was true even when he gardened. He loved to go to Lowe’s to buy withering plants and nurture them back to life,” said Billy, who served on the Board of the Trinity River Audubon Center for many years, including a term as board chair.
Billy retired at age 50 from a career in commercial real estate finance. He furthers his passion for supporting financial literacy by volunteering with Foundation Communities to help people in need file and amend their tax returns, where he is especially helpful in supporting Spanish speakers.
He also now tutors math at the elementary school where Blaine taught to further honor Blaine’s impact on the lives of so many. “It’s been so helpful to me to be surrounded by people Blaine worked with, and in getting to know some of the students that he mentored,” said Billy.
Billy shared that his ability to leave a legacy during a time when he experienced such a profound loss has not only helped memorialize his and Blaine’s commitment to supporting others, but continues to help him through the grieving process.
At Communities Foundation of Texas, we’ve seen firsthand the significant benefit that planned gifts have on expanding philanthropy and impact. It is estimated that two-thirds of Americans do not have a formal estate plan, so our team of experts have been partnering with local nonprofits to host events focused on educating their donors and partners about ways to support their missions through planned giving. Planned giving offers donors a way to honor a loved one, create a family legacy for the next generation, provide perpetual support for one or more favorite organizations, all while helping meet the future needs of our North Texas community.
