Class Act – Marty Burbank (LL.M.’08) and his wife make an incredibly generous gesture that defers one dream as it fulfills 27 others Marty Burbank (LL.M.'08) and his wife make an incredibly generous gesture that defers one dream as it fulfills 27 others

Marty Burbank (LL.M. ’08) had narrowed his choice to two sailboats, including a particularly dreamy Catalina cruiser. It was to

be the fulfillment of a love that began in the Sea Scouts, billowed during his 12 years in the Navy and crested when he met, proposed to and married his wife, Seon Chun-Burbank, Ph.D., aboard sailing vessels.
“Sailing,” Burbank says, “is very important to me.”
But a funny thing happened on the way to his dream of boat ownership. Burbank tacked leeward toward a new and more rewarding aspiration.
Things changed after he heard his pastor deliver a sermon on meaningful gifts, charity and sacrifice.
“He said, ‘If it doesn’t really hurt, it’s not really a sacrifice,’” recalls Burbank, a lawyer with an elder-law practice in Fullerton. “I realized I could make an investment that would be more impactful.”
Indeed, the Burbanks’ impact is life-changing. They have pledged to pay the college tuition for an entire kindergarten class.

It’s an amazing commitment to lift up 27 youngsters from predominantly immigrant families for whom a college dream might otherwise be out of reach. But the act is consistent with Burbank’s character, says Tessa Ashton, teacher of the kindergarten class at Rio Vista Elementary School in Anaheim.
The Burbanks met Ashton at Eastside Christian Church and learned of the many needs at her school, where the majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The Burbanks became regular volunteers and contributors of food, notebooks and other necessities.
During a school delivery of supplies, Burbank noticed that each class at Rio Vista had adopted a different university – Chapman among them – to help the students develop a goal of attending college. Ashton’s students got T-shirts and hoodies that said “Class of 2032.”
The idea of college excites the students, Ashton told him, “but when they get home it stops,” he says, “because there’s no money for college.”

Now there is, thanks to the Burbanks’ commitment of more than $1 million, a figure that’s attainable thanks to Burbank’s estate-planning skills, honed in part during his LL.M. studies at Chapman’s Fowler School of Law.

“We’re comfortable, but we’re not multimillionaires,” he says. “We’ll have to save for this.”
The gift is particularly meaningful for the students’ families. During a school event, more than a few parents cried as they expressed their gratitude. One grandfather surprised Burbank with a big bear hug.
“That was very special,” he says.

The couple never intended to publicize their gift, but once the word got out there was no containing it. NBC News, People magazine and The Meredith Vieira Show all did features. Burbank shared his story at tax law conferences and other venues. He’s now embracing the publicity because people are responding to the inspiration.
Another lawyer and an NBA player have committed to sponsoring classes at the school, he says. People elsewhere in the nation are asking him how to set up similar plans.

“It’s amazing what happens – generosity follows generosity,”  says Gene Appel, the Burbanks’ pastor at Eastside Christian Church in Anaheim. “Marty and Seon are helping to create a culture of generosity.”

That culture is particularly rewarding because both Burbank and his wife, a professor at Vanguard University, are first-generation  college graduates. “I only had the resources because of my military service,” Burbank says.

Now they have in their lives 27 children whose futures they hold as close as if they were family. “From here on, I want to know what they’re all doing,” Burbank says.

Maybe someday the couple will have a boat big enough to bring the whole class on board. Until then, a different dream is filling their sails.

“It almost seems selfish,” Burbank says, “because there’s so much joy.”