Supporters’ Bequests Fuel Legacies of Research Progress and Educational Innovation
Jeanette R. Duckworth of Lansing began giving to the
Ferdinand A. “Dutch” Bower (1883-1971)
W.K. Kellogg Eye Center Annual Fund in 2002. Ferdinand A.
and Agnes M. Bower (1883-1975)
“Dutch” and Agnes M. Bower of Flint supported a fund in the
With more than a dozen automotive patents to his credit,
name of a longtime ophthalmology department chair. And James
Ferdinand A. “Dutch” Bower moved up the ranks at General
B. Thompson and Mary Ann Brandt of Okemos, Michigan,
Motors to become chief engineer at the Buick Motor Division.
made gifts to honor a faculty member who helped Ms. Brandt
In the 1920s and 30s, he was credited with improving ride
through her care for a rare systemic disease that impacted her
comfort and many other automotive advances, including an
vision — greatly improving her sight and her life.
innovative lubricating and filtering system, brake mechanism,
and oil pressure regulator.
Through estate gifts realized by Kellogg this year, these
individuals chose to continue their legacies of giving — and
Mr. Bower and his wife, Agnes M. Bower, were thoughtful
will have an enduring impact on the activities and care, research, and education. Jeanette R. Duckworth (1923-2018)
A University of Michigan School of Nursing graduate, Mrs. Duckworth pursued a career in nursing administration throughout the state. After retiring from Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, she
“
“lived a rich and rewarding life
and generous philanthropists. In the 1960s, they made arrangements to establish the F.A. & A. M. Bower Charitable Trust to ensure the causes they cared about would con-
IT IS INSPIRING TO SEE
PEOPLE MAKE AN INVESTMENT IN SOMETHING THEY CARE
deaths. They included the Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, the Flint Institute of Arts, the Flint Institute of Music, and the Roman
ABOUT — AND A PRIVILEGE TO DO
Catholic Diocese of Lansing.
THAT WORK IN THEIR MEMORY.
Kellogg Eye Center to the list,
— Paul P. Lee, M.D., J.D.
filled with cooking, needlework, Snoopy cartoons, family, and University of Michigan football,” according to her obituary, which ended with, “Go Blue!” Her husband, Ralph J. Duckworth, a quality control engineer in the automotive industry, passed away in 1998.
tinue to receive funding after their
“
success of our work to advance eye disease
Through her estate plan, Mrs. Duckworth added to her
long-term support of U-M, leaving two-thirds of the balance of
In 1969, they added the supporting the F. Bruce Fralick Ophthalmology Fund. F. Bruce Fralick, M.D., was the fifth chair of U-M’s Department of Ophthalmology
and Visual Sciences, serving in the role from
1938-1968. After Mrs. Bower died in 1975, the trust distributed gifts to the Fralick Fund annually until it was ended in January 2020, per the Bowers’ wishes. Kellogg received a percentage of the trust’s final assets at its dissolution.
her trust to the School of Nursing and one-third to the Kellogg
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Eye Center. The eye center has established an endowment to
James B. Thompson (1949 -2019)
honor her wish to provide financial assistance to those studying
Mary Ann Brandt (1949 -2017)
to advance vision care and research for future generations. The
When Mary Ann Brandt was first introduced to former Kellogg
Jeanette R. Duckworth Student Support Fund will forever assist
faculty member Stephen J. Saxe, M.D., her vision was becoming
individuals who are choosing to dedicate their lives to health
foggy and she had already lost her hearing. Her symptoms were
care and helping others.
caused by an uncommon systemic disorder known as Wegener’s
