In early 2020, Hobe Sound resident Don McCree was an extremely proud grandpa. His granddaughter, Andrea McCree, had recently graduated from the University of Virginia with a nursing degree. She was buoyant, ready to take her skills and carefree personality to Memorial Sloan Kettering’s transplant division, a dream job.
Then, a global pandemic arrived.
“She ended up treating COVID patients, watching them die,” Don recalls, his voice quiet. “It was a tremendous mental strain, and it just showed us how important these first responders are.”
Statistics show that while nursing remains the most trusted profession in the United States, one in four nurses left the field during the physically and emotionally draining pandemic. But Andrea McCree found a silver lining in her experience. She enrolled at the University of California San Diego to pursue a doctorate in nursing administration, knowing she would be able to use what she learned during the crisis to help new nurses. And now another granddaughter, Elizabeth McCree, is also in nursing school.
This fills Don with pride, but also a profound sense of awe. When his wife of nearly 65 years, Patsy, was nearing the end of her long fight against cancer in early 2023, it was his granddaughters who dropped everything to fly to Florida and tend to her.
“To watch the two of them help my wife was just amazing,” Don says. “You talk about comfort and care—Elizabeth stepped away from her classes and showed up on our doorstep.”
For Don, the compassion and dedication shown by his granddaughters, as well as by the Jupiter Medical Center nursing staff who treated Patsy over the years, reinforces his family’s decision to focus their charitable giving on the hospital in support of nurses. In fact, it was mostly Patsy’s idea, Don notes, to consider ways to ease the burdens on nurses, support that would ultimately benefit patients.
The result was the McCree Nursing Challenge, held in 2022 and launched with a $250,000 matching gift from the McCree family. The match was met, as was a second $250,000 gift from the McCrees, leading to more than $1 million in total funds raised from community donors.
“Proceeds from these collective efforts will go toward continuing nursing education and credentialing, conferences, retention bonuses, nursing week celebrations, and the national Daisy Awards, where nurses receive ongoing recognition for their outstanding and compassionate care,” Pamela Canter, JMC’s chief nursing officer, wrote in a letter to donors.
“I think it’s made a real difference in retaining nurses, helping them pay for additional courses, and getting them trained on different equipment and such,” says Don. “It’s been a wonderful opportunity to help the hospital.”
Don and Patsy met in 1958 at her cousin’s wedding and married the following year. Eventually they settled in Chappaqua, New York, to raise their three sons while Don worked in banking in New York City.
During a visit to Florida, they fell in love with Loblolly Golf Club. Nearing retirement, they purchased a lot in 1990 and built their winter home the following year. They summered in Vermont and kept active with golf, tennis, and gardening. They especially reveled in traveling together—something that had been difficult during Don’s hectic career. Their adventures would take them to all seven continents.
Through the Loblolly Community Foundation and Hobe Sound Community Chest, the McCrees also stayed active in philanthropy. In 2007, Don joined the Jupiter Medical Center Foundation’s board at the urging of his late friend and Loblolly neighbor, Guy Fiske.
In the years since, Don has enjoyed taking part in the evolution of the hospital, from a small community medical center to a campus that will soon unveil a $100 million, 90,000-square-foot premier surgical center (the Johnny and Terry Gray Surgical Institute). He credits the vision of prior leaders, as well as current foundation and hospital leadership—including JMC Foundation Chief Philanthropy Officer Traci Simonsen and JMC President and CEO Amit Rastogi—for fostering an enhanced relationship between the two boards. This, he believes, has allowed for more cohesive strategic planning and organization.
“The next step we’re all involved with is adding more patient beds and a parking garage, which is sorely needed,” Don says. “When I first came in, we aimed at a $50 million campaign, and now we’ve just completed a $300 million campaign. A lot of new doctors have come in. It’s a joy to be involved.”
Don is adjusting to life without Patsy’s feisty and fun-loving presence, but he’s determined to stay engaged in ways she would have appreciated. This past summer, he attended a family memorial gathering for Patsy and went on a solo cruise to Norway for rest and reflection. He intends to sustain his involvement with Jupiter Medical Center, sharing his view of charitable giving as an essential element of a life well lived.
“You have to ask: ‘What are you doing to better your neighbors and make a difference?’ When you’ve been successful and have the opportunity, give some of that success back.”