Queen. the source for the concept of spiritual legacy is Midrash Raba Shmos 5. There the example (msiras nefesh for a mitzvah)is a play on words, Yisro sheltered a goel running from a sonei, and Yael sheltered a sonei ( Sisrah-in order to kill him) running from a goel (Barak)
Here there is a time gap of some three hundred years, and Yael is possible only related to Yisro by marriage. This is in line with the language (“that mitzva will not stop (from being represented) in that household) and also with our concept of free will. If your children or grandchildren choose to excel in the causes and mitzvos in which you did, that is icing on the cake.