Caring Relationships - Gundersen Health System

A Legacy of Love
Betty Ann MacPhetridge is remembered by her
husband Don, and many others, as a person who
always had a smile on her face and a gift for helping
people. “She turned me into a giving person,” says
Don. “She’d go without eating to help someone else.”
In 2005, nearly a year after Betty
Ann MacPhetridge had passed
away, her husband Don made a
surprising discovery. Tucked away
in the bottom of a drawer where his
wife collected receipts was a letter
to Don, from Betty Ann, along with
a life insurance policy naming him
as beneficiary. In her letter, Betty
Ann told Don how she wanted him to
make gifts to their favorite charities,
which include Gundersen Lutheran
Medical Foundation. She also wanted
him to have some fun money to enjoy
at their favorite casino. It’s a perfect
example of the generosity and sense
of humor that defined Betty Ann
MacPhetridge in life. “She was a
giving person always,” says the man
who was married to her for nearly
50 years. “And she turned me into a
giving person, too.”
Don MacPhetridge cherishes the
memories of Betty Ann’s giving
ways. How she lent him a dime when
they ran out of gas on their first date.
How she sent a monthly check to
help support a woman whose children
refused to. “If someone needed
money, she would give it to them,”
says Don. “She’d go without eating to
help someone else. There were some
weeks when she would come home
on pay day without a paycheck left.
That’s how she was.”
{continued on page 4}
Pathfinders Year-End 2008 3