Our History

In 2017, Liane Laurion found herself facing the future alone, suddenly without her husband of 40 years who died unexpectedly at home from a heart attack. Like so many women in her situation, Liane realized that in the life she shared with her husband Dave, she had taken care of certain responsibilities, and he had taken care of others.

The family’s financial matters were one of her husband’s responsibilities because Dave, in fact, was a seasoned financial advisor. Without Dave’s knowledge and experience and Liane’s sudden loss and grief, how would she navigate a financial world of such complexity?

Liane did have a trusted resource, a Certified Financial Planner and colleague of Dave’s, Chris Bentley. Chris and Dave had worked together the previous two years, and, by chance, Chris inherited the entire Laurion family as clients following Dave’s death on February 4, 2017.

Another resource for Liane was a Grief Share group. As the months passed, Liane realized she was making better progress managing her finances than many other women in her group, including those who had lost their husbands earlier than Liane.

Dave and Liane Laurion shortly before Dave died from a heart attack. Dave was 62.

She mentioned this to Chris in December 2017. Liane told Chris that although she was beginning to feel a renewed sense of hope, other members of her grief group didn’t share her optimism. They were still struggling with their finances and other responsibilities.

Chris offered to meet with Liane’s friends to see if he could help in any way, and Liane obliged. A few weeks later, Chris met a group of six widows during brunch. After several hours, Chris realized there was a very real unmet need – helping new widows in a time of immense despair and vulnerability – and offered to find them some resources. However, Chris came up empty-handed. It turned out there wasn’t a single nonprofit helping widows through this devastating transition. Chris remembers telling his wife, Susie, “If I don’t do something, who will?” Chris turned to prayer and reflection and realized he was being given the opportunity to “give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need” (1 Timothy 5:3).

On January 8, 2018, Chris filed Wings for Widows as a 501(c)3 Minnesota public charity, the first and only organization of its kind in the United States, then and still today.