Tim and Sharon Vogt's planned gift will support research in the School of Medicine in an area to which they have personal ties.When Tim and Sharon Vogt were making plans for their living will, they considered the people they had loved and lost—including family members who battled cancer and their good friend, Andrea Donner, who struggled with ALS, the progressive neurodegenerative disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

So the couple decided to include UAB in their estate plans to support research and scholarship in those areas. Their gift will support at least one endowed chair within the School of Medicine, either within the Comprehensive Cancer Center or within the Department of Neurology to support ALS research. The decision will be left to the school’s dean, because the Vogts want the money to go where it is needed most.

“Both areas are key focuses for us and would provide paths for making a tremendous difference in patients’ lives,” says Selwyn Vickers, M.D., FACS, senior vice president for medicine and dean of the UAB School of Medicine. “As we make that decision, we will ensure that the potential of the Vogts’ gift is maximized.”

A Life of Adventure

Tim and Sharon Vogt started out in New Orleans and traveled extensively. They spent eight years living in Costa Rica before returning to the U.S. to live in Fairhope.After more than 25 years living and working in New Orleans—Sharon as an interior designer and Tim as a Crescent River Port Pilot on the Mississippi River—the couple retired to Costa Rica, where they built a home and resided for eight years. Now the Vogts are stateside again and living in Fairhope. At this stage in life, giving back is on the forefront of their minds, they say.

They chose to give a planned gift to UAB after learning about ongoing research and experiencing its patient care firsthand when Sharon’s brother was treated following a motorcycle accident. “I was so impressed with the care he received,” she says. “We both wanted to give something back to the state of Alabama, and this seemed like the right thing to do.”

“Both of us believe in paying it forward,” says Tim.

Sharon agrees. “We want to give back to the future.”

To learn more about planned giving at UAB, contact Kimberley Coppock at 205-975-5970 or kcoppock@uab.edu.

By Brett Bralley