Giving Back: Physician's Daughter Focused on the Future

Florence Smith’s respect for good doctors came to her naturally as the only daughter of Dr.

Dr. Hy & Julia Smith

Hy Smith and his wife Julia. Hy Smith was a Civil War surgeon who treated Yellow Fever victims in the 1870s and ‘80s and later had a medical practice i Norfolk, Virginia. He passed away in 1915. 

Florence Smith

Thirty-seven years after her dad’s death, Florence Smith left a charitable bequest in her will to her community foundation to guarantee a steady stream of excellent physicians from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Her 1952 bequest provided an initial $460,000, and the following year the Hampton Roads Community Foundation was able to award scholarships to 26 Virginians attending medical school in her name. One of the recipients became president of the American Medical Association.

Barron Frazier

Over the decades, nearly 750 Smith Scholars have benefited from Florence Smith’s generosity and have gone on to be caring physicians and to head various medical societies. The $2.5 million her scholarship at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation has provided paved the way for caring physicians in all fields. Today the perpetual Smith Fund is helping 15 medical students and has grown to more than $2.2 million in value.Soon new medical students will join their ranks as current fourth-year students graduate and move on to residency.

One of the 2016 graduating Smith Scholars is S. Barron Frazier, a fourth-year Eastern Virginia Medical School student from Norfolk. He says: “Miss Smith saw that money only has as much value as you contribute to the future. Her gift is a model that says if you give to the future you will create a better community.”

Scholarship Spotlight: Smith Scholars Are Outstanding Physicians

Through the generous support of our donors, Hampton RoadsCommunity Foundation offers over 70 different college scholarships for undergraduate, graduate and medical school students. Today we invite you to learn more about our Smith Scholars: 

History:

In 1952, Florence Smith left the Hampton Roads Community Foundation approximately

Florence Smith

$400,000 through her estate to create a scholarship to help Virginians attend medical school. Smith’s father, Dr. Hy Smith, was a Civil War surgeon and treated Yellow Fever victims before opening a practice in Norfolk. 

Eligibility:

Smith Scholars must be long-time Virginia residents who are attending or have attended medical school in Virginia to earn a M.D. degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School, University of Virginia School of Medicine, or Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. 

Impact:

Since 1953 when the first Smith scholarships were awarded:

• ·More than $2.5 million in Smith scholarships have been  awarded.
• 750+ physicians received a Smith scholarship, including 15 current medical students. Most recipients have the scholarship for four years.
• ·Many Smith Scholars have gone on to distinguished careers in medicine that have truly impacted their communities for the better. Many have been the presidents of local, state and national professional societies. Among their past honors are

·         National Young Internist of the Year

·         Chief aerospace medicine for the Air National Guard

·         Virginia Physician of the Year

·         CEO of the Virginia Department of Health

·         Commander of the form Walter Reed Army Hospital

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Scholarships are awarded through a competitive process based on established criteria, interested physicians and medical students are encouraged to learn more and apply.December 1 is when applications for 2017-18 scholarships are available.

What Is the Best Way to Be Remembered If I Have No Children?

How can someone with no children be remembered forever?

If you have no children but have a generous heart, you can be like the late 

Florence Smith has
helped nearly 750
physicians pay for
medical school since
she died in 1952.

Florence L. Smith and live forever through your area community foundation. There are more than 700 of these regionally focused foundations in North America helping people from all walks of life become philanthropists -- either during their lifetimes or after they pass away.

Florence Smith was a Norfolk, Virginia physician's daughter who never married and had no children or family left when she died in 1952. But, she lives forever because she put a provision in her will to start a scholarship fund at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. At the time it was called The Norfolk Foundation and was a two-year-old community foundation.

Florence's idea of sending long-time Virginians to medical school in the commonwealth has given her nearly 750 "heirs" -- people helped by her generosity. That number is growing each year. In 2014 her scholarships are helping 19 medical students pay for their educations. Look for more "heirs" to join Florence's family later in 2014 when the next Smith Scholars are selected.

In 1953 there were 20 Virginians in the first class of Smith Scholars. Among them was Dr. Percy Wootton of Richmond, Virginia, who was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (formerly Medical College of Virginia). He became a cardiologist and president of the American Medical Association.

Smith Scholars have gone on to be caring physicians, researchers, medical missionaries and professors working throughout the United States and in other countries. Quite a few of them have headed regional, state and national medical associations.

More and more Smith Scholars are modeling the generosity of their benefactor by becoming Hampton Roads Community Foundation donors themselves or supporting scholarships at their alma maters. In 2013 student Brian A. Holloway of Chesapeake, Virginia became the first recipient of the new Helen and Buzzy Schulwolf Fund for Smith Scholars. The Eastern Virginia Medical School student who dreams of a career as a dermatologist also has a Smith scholarship in 2014.

Dr. Alfred L. "Buzzy" Schulwolf, a retired Norfolk pediatrician who started the Schulwolf Scholarship at the Hampton Roads Community Foundation, was helped by a Smith scholarship. It enabled him to attend the University of Virginia School of Medicine from 1954 to 1958. Florence's generosity  inspired him to start his own scholarship fund in 2011.

As Buzzy explains, "I've given to lots of charities but this is one that actually helped me."

Florence's bequest to her community foundation for the scholarship fund was $436,620. Through the power of endowment, it has provided more than $2.5 million in scholarships and is now valued at more than $2 million.

That means Florence Smith will continue gaining new heirs to her legacy as she helps future generations achieve their dreams of becoming medical doctors.

The last line of Florence Smith's February 18, 1953 obituary says: "There are no survivors."

Through her community foundation connection with nearly 750 physician "children," Florence Smith proves that is not true. One of her scholarship recipients from many years ago whose life was changed by Florence Smith says: "I say a little prayer to Florence Smith every day."

To learn more about Smith Scholars click here.

To learn how you can create a scholarship fund or one of the many other kinds offered by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation click here.

Click here for a Council on Foundations map that will help you find information on the community foundation nearest you.

(The Hampton Roads Community Foundation is a regional community foundation started in 1950 as the first community foundation in Virginia. It is the largest grant and scholarship provider in southeastern Virginia and manages more than 400 charitable funds created by donors from all walks of life. It is dedicated to improving life for residents living in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, including the cities of Chesapeake, Franklin, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Suffolk and Virginia Beach. It also serves people in Isle of Wight and Southampton counties and the Eastern Shore of Virginia, including Accomack and Northampton counties. Learn more at hamptonroadscf.org.)