Dutch and Betsy Kurtz
Couple's Support of Mayo Clinic Provides Them With Financial Security for Life
Lobster and champagne. That's how Alfred R. "Dutch" and Elizabeth J. "Betsy" Kurtz celebrated her 99th birthday and their 67th wedding anniversary, which fall on the same June day.
This special meal is now an annual tradition for the Kurtzes, who met during World War II. Dutch-nicknamed for his Pennsylvania Dutch upbringing-was a Medical Administrative Corps officer assigned to Camp Kilmer in New Jersey when he first laid eyes on Betsy.
"She was in the Red Cross and was handing out things," says Dutch, now 95. "I saw her and said, 'That one's for me.'"
As a social worker caring for injured men returning from war, Betsy was adept at avoiding overtures. But something about Dutch was different. She agreed to a date, and a year later they married.
The couple, who have no children, moved to St. Augustine, Florida, in the 1990s and chose Mayo Clinic for their care. They knew Mayo's reputation for excellence because Dutch had been a health care administrator, and Betsy spent most of her social work career at some of the nation's top teaching hospitals.
"We are very happy with the way we've been treated," Dutch says.
The Kurtzes gave small gifts to Mayo Clinic for several years until they read a flyer about Mayo's charitable gift annuity (CGA) program.
A CGA involves you making a gift of cash or property to Mayo Clinic, which reinvests the assets and agrees to pay you (and, if desired, another beneficiary) fixed payments for life.
"An annuity increases our income as well as our tax deductions," Dutch says. "We've built it up to a half million dollars, believe it or not. I never thought it would be that much."
The Kurtzes, who moved to a community next to Mayo's Jacksonville, Fla., campus in 2002, are now at 26 CGAs and counting. They even donated their car in 2013 for use by the development office.
"We're not that affluent," Betsy says. "We just give steadily. We get enough money from our annuities to buy more annuities."
And to ensure they can enjoy lobster and champagne every year on a very special day.
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