Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way

Deborah O’Neill Aspinwall ’66 and her husband, John, have been loyal Lasell supporters for many years. But it was Deborah’s 50th Lasell Reunion in 2016 that inspired the couple to create a permanent legacy at the College. “It feels better to give back than to receive,” Deborah says, “and we wanted our gift to benefit future generations of students.” In that spirit, and in honor of Deborah’s milestone Lasell 50th, the Aspinwalls made a generous provision in their wills to help the school. Being co-chair of her 50th (along with classmates Barbara Caron MacLean and Nancy L. Goodale) brought Deborah back to her alma mater regularly, where she was struck by the many changes that had taken place since her undergraduate days in Briggs House. “All the new buildings, Lasell Village’s intergenerational living-and-learning presence, plus the introduction of co-education and varsity sports, seem to be bringing a new vibrancy to the campus,” she tells Leaves. Deborah calls her own Lasell experience “transformative” and credits it with “opening my eyes and strongly impacting the person I became.” The College, she adds, “gave me the confidence to pursue my passion and return to school in my early 50s,” a move that resulted in her getting a degree in interior design and launching a successful career in the field. The parents of two grown children and the grandparents of a three-year-old granddaughter, the Aspinwalls love casual entertaining and outdoor living. They divide their time between homes in Mystic, Connecticut and Spring Hill, Florida, north of Tampa—where Deborah’s signature design sensibility is apparent. World travelers, Deborah and John, a retired corporate lender and investment banker, are just back from a trip to Japan and China. Stateside, they are avid sailors and also enjoy playing golf. Generosity like the Aspinwalls’ is helping to propel Lasell forward to benefit the next generation of students with transformative experiences like Deborah’s.

For information on how you can create a legacy at Lasell College, contact Senior Advancement Director Katharine Urner-Jones ’83 at kurnerjones@lasell.edo or 617.243.2223.