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In life, Charlotte Scott was many things: a pioneer female executive at IBM, an opera aficionado, and a faithful member of Trinity Church.

More than a year after her death, Scott continues to influence the church she loved, having planned a generous bequest that left a portion of her estate to Trinity. The gift was gratefully accepted by the Trinity Charter Society, a new way for Trinity to honor and encourage faithful planned gifts like Scott’s.

The society’s name is inspired by Trinity’s charter, approved in 1697 by the governor of New York on behalf of King William III of England. The document, still held in Trinity’s archives, was essentially the parish’s first gift. Scott, who was raised Roman Catholic, began attending Trinity regularly in the 1970s, after the death of her mother. She was, according to Nancy Parks, wife of the Rev. Dr. Bob Parks, who was rector of Trinity Church at the time, “a very elegant figure; she had a real sense of style.”

Scott was also someone, Mrs. Parks recalled, “who stood her ground. She was a lady, but she always let you know exactly what she thought.”

It’s a quality that many remember about Scott, and one that was no doubt important in her work as one of the first female executives at IBM.

“She was at the forefront of the development of computers,” Mrs. Parks said. “She loved that company.”

The Rev. Canon James G. Callaway, D.D., remembers Scott being at Trinity every Sunday without fail, often serving as an acolyte or thurifer.

Scott, who was so frugal that she took public transportation everywhere, even when health and age made that difficult, planned her gift to Trinity years before her death.

“One of the reasons Charlotte was as careful with money as she was,” Callaway said, “is that she wanted it to go for a good purpose.”

Plans for exactly how to use the bequest are still under discussion. Early suggestions have included setting aside a piece of parish property for people in Lower Manhattan to gather.

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