Memorial Healthcare Foundation Receives $3.7 Million Donation

 In 1996, Robert P. Thome, established a charitable remainder unitrust and identified Memorial Healthcare Foundation as the sole beneficiary of the remaining value of the trust at the time of his death. Mr. Thome passed away on December 10, 2007, and the trustee, U.S. Trust – Bank of America Private Wealth Management, has informed the Foundation of the gift which is being made in memory of his parents, Edward N. and Della L. Thome.  

Robert Thome was born in Owosso in 1915, six years before Memorial Hospital was opened. His father, Edward Thome owned and operated a shoe store in Owosso known as Thome & Frisbie. Edward passed away in 1941 and his wife Della passed away in 1964.  Both were members of St. Paul Catholic Church in Owosso.  
 
Robert Thome moved from Owosso and worked for the Washington Post from 1948 to 1975, ultimately serving as the newspaper’s comptroller, while making his hometown in Chevy Chase, Maryland.  He maintained ties to our community, visiting his sister Helen, who continued to live in the family’s home at 503 East Exchange Street until her death in 2005. 
 
In 1996, Mr. Thome sent a note to Tom Garikes, executive director of Memorial Healthcare Foundation at the time, that he had included Memorial Healthcare Foundation in his will.  
 
The $3.7 million donation is the single largest gift received in the history of Memorial Healthcare and Memorial Healthcare Foundation.  
The trust document includes Thome’s request that the funds be used to support care for the elderly.
 
The donation will enable Memorial Healthcare to advance its mission to promote health and provide quality, compassionate care.
 “We are extremely excited about this gift and the opportunity it presents to improve, expand and assure access to services for our growing senior population,” Cheryl Peterson, president and CEO said.  “We are grateful to Mr. Thome for his generosity to Memorial and the people who live in the Greater Shiawassee County region.  We are pleased to honor the memory of his parents by utilizing his precious gift to make a meaningful impact in this community for generations to come.” 
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Memorial Healthcare is a 148-bed hospital supported by a medical staff of 170 primary care and specialty physicians and over 1,100 employees. In addition to its main campus in Owosso, the facility operates 13 satellite locations for services such as lab, x-ray, occupational medicine and rehabilitation in Chesaning, Durand, and Perry. It serves over 82,000 residents of the greater Shiawassee County area and is the county's largest employer. For the past six years the hospital has been named one of the “Most Wired Hospitals” by the American Hospital Association’s journal Hospital & Health Networks.