Jesse Garber, M41 and Donna Garber

After attending the University of Michigan, Jesse Garber received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine in 1941. His wife, Donna Garber, knew that her husband held a special regard for the school where he spent those formative years. “Jesse felt tremendous gratitude to Tufts,” she says, “and my gifts to the medical school are a way of honoring him. He was a very generous person, and this became a way to extend his legacy.”

Donna and Jesse married later in life, after each had raised a family, but they met much earlier, under rather special circumstances: Jesse, who was an OB/GYN, happened to be the doctor who delivered Donna’s first child, Linda Ellman, and his name appears on Linda’s birth certificate as the attending physician. 

During his lifetime, Jesse established a charitable gift annuity to provide Donna with a supplemental income stream during her lifetime, and it will ultimately support  scholarships for Tufts medical students. In addition, Jesse named the medical school as one of the remainder beneficiaries of his trust.  Medical education is also a charitable priority for Donna and, after Jesse passed away, she made a gift to establish the Garber Family Endowed Scholarship.