Kathryn (Katie) Norvell Liddell's late husband James A. Liddell had previously been treated at Sarasota Memorial Hospital for pneumonia and kidney stones when he fell in a parking lot during a 2016 rainstorm and was rushed to the hospital's trauma center with a head injury, broken nose, and broken finger. They were so impressed with the care he received they changed their estate plan to support Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation.

"It was amazing how uninformed we were about healthcare in Sarasota; we didn't know SMH had a trauma center or how highly rated it is," says Katie. "Then a couple of years later, after Jim had been diagnosed with kidney cancer, we went to a presentation and were blown away by the plans for the new Cancer Institute. We had been driving hours each way to go to another facility, and I said to Jim, 'Why should we do that when we can get such great care locally?' "

Unfortunately, Jim passed away in July 2020, but not before the retired captain of 747 jets and his retired flight attendant wife changed the trust in their estate plan in gratitude for the care he received at Sarasota Memorial.

"We decided to divide the trust between the Healthcare Foundation and a second not-for-profit organization," Katie says. "We thought this was the best way to leave something positive beyond our lives."

The Liddells' careers and love story

Jim grew up in Philadelphia and Katie in Kansas. Katie earned a degree in elementary education from Wichita State University, but she never worked as a teacher.

"It was 1970 and the airlines were bringing on the 747s, so it was a big hiring year," Katie recalls. "They were flying them to Paris, Rome, and Athens, and the crew was increased to 15 from the six that were flying the 707s. They needed so many flight attendants that they hired you by phone—blind, crippled, and crazy!"

Jim, meanwhile, was already a pilot and became an international captain of 747s. They met on a flight in the 1980s and became acquaintances; Jim was divorced but Katie was married, and they exchanged Christmas cards for a few years. Jim retired at 58 and moved to Sarasota to be near college friends and for the good weather and the low taxes. Katie divorced in 2003 ... and decided to contact Jim.

"I called him up and said, 'We've always liked each other. I'd like to come for a visit,' " Katie recalls. They started dating, and in 2006 Katie retired after 33 years as a flight attendant and moved to Sarasota to be with him. She was not interested in marriage, however; after her difficult divorce, she promised herself that she would never marry again. But Jim's health issues changed all that.

"We went on vacation and he got sick with pneumonia in Cody, Wyoming, and they asked, 'Are you his wife?' And I said yes so I could authorize treatment," Katie says. "Then the next year we went to Washington state to see the air and space museum. He was on the floor with abdominal pain and when we came back, he went to Sarasota Memorial for kidney stones and again they asked, 'Are you his wife?' And I said to myself, 'I need to be his wife. We both know this is a permanent deal.' "

They married in 2013, not long before Jim was diagnosed with kidney cancer and they started seeking treatment—first out of town and then at Sarasota Memorial when they realized the quality of care in their own back yard.

The switch to Sarasota Memorial and the care at the end

After several cancer surgeries, Jim was getting chemo treatments twice a week—with Katie driving him four hours roundtrip while he was suffering from nausea.

"It was ridiculous, really," Katie says. "I said to him, 'We can't keep going back and forth like this.' As I thought about it, I realized that we had used Sarasota Memorial way more than most people—and always received excellent care. Then a friend put us in touch with Craig Moran (director of development) and he told us what was happening right under our noses and we didn't even know it! The oncology building, Venice Regional Hospital, expanding into South County ... It's phenomenal. There was no reason not to stay in town for care at this excellent facility."

The next step was to meet with Moran to discuss changing their estate plan to switch their gift to Sarasota Memorial. "We were glad to do it, we wanted to do it," Katie says. "You want to leave something important behind."

Now she feels that way even more so—because of the way Sarasota treated her and Jim as he neared the end.

"Here we were in COVID lockdown, but they were so wonderful," Katie says. "He was wheezing, and I took him in and they let me check him in. The nurses called me every day, two or three times a day, to give me an update. Then the last night, July 19, they called and said they had to put him on a ventilator, and the next morning they called and said he was failing. I asked if I could come see him, and the charge nurse said absolutely yes. They let me come up to take him off the machines.

"I really couldn't believe that I could go up and be with him, when so many people were dying alone during COVID. It made it so much better, made a horrible situation much more bearable. I was amazed that they said yes; this was so very special.

"Sarasota Memorial was there for Jim and for me, and I will never ever forget it."