GBMC Honors Local Couple with Perpetual Yaggy Society Membership

Bill and Suzanne Higginbothom enjoyed the simple things in life.

The couple felt comfortable where they grew up, in Baltimore County, and chose to make their married home in Towson. It was a home filled with memories they made together, not the latest and greatest in appliances or electronics. Even nearing the end of his life, Bill was known to relish what he called, "chocolate milk" (chocolate flavored Ensure) and an Entenmann's doughnut.

Bill died on March 8, 2021 at the age of 93, leaving GBMC a $1 million bequest that was designated for the Promise Project, the capital campaign that built the Sandra R. Berman Pavilion and the Louis and Phyllis Friedman building, including GBMC's new main entrance.

The couple's affinity for GBMC grew from seeing it as their community hospital, located in the place they called home. Weeks before Bill died, he was treated at GBMC for COVID-19, which he contracted just before, or between, vaccine doses. Though he decided to provide for GBMC in his Will long ago, Bill was also grateful for the care he received during his final hospital visit.

According to the couple's attorney, Jon Eisner, "GBMC quickly got his fever under control, and with dementia, it is better to be someplace familiar. It was nice GBMC was able to quickly get him to the point where it was easy to transition back to where he was comfortable before he died."

Eisner met the couple in the early 2000s, after Bill had retired from practicing law at a firm he shared with his father and brother. Suzanne was a secretary early in her career, before she met Bill. The couple had no children and had a limited social life, but they loved spending time together, especially out on the water.

"They adored each other," Eisner said. And their commitment to each other was evident. When Suzanne passed away in 2017 from a cancer that no one knew she had, family quickly realized she had also been solely caring for Bill's worsening dementia.

A World War II veteran, Bill was known to be hard-working and kind, someone who enjoyed life, including fast cars and "smoking enough cigarettes to keep Phillip Morris in business," Eisner said. Suzanne was equally as kind and dedicated. Eisner also remembered her as being a straight-talker, confident in what she wanted. A 1949 graduate of The Bryn Mawr School, Eisner recalled the time she called for his advice on a car purchase. She was concerned after visiting a handful of dealerships that she could not find a car without electric windows. She wanted, "the kind you rolled up-and-down," manually.

Directing their gift to GBMC's Promise Project, the Higginbothoms' generosity has assisted their favorite community healthcare system in keeping a promise that GBMC made to the community in 1965 — to treat patients as if they were our own loved ones — just like the Higginbothoms.

The Elizabeth Duncan Yaggy Society honors loyal benefactors who have provided for GBMC in their estate plans or with a gift to GBMC that pays them a lifetime of income. Please contact us to learn more.