East Bay Community Foundation Receives "Surprise" $2.7 Million From Oakland Estate PDF Print E-mail
Berkeley Orthopedic Surgeon Took Philanthropy Seriously

Sept. 26, 2006 - Oakland, California – The East Bay Community Foundation has received its largest unrestricted gift ever – $2.7 million from the estate of Berkeley orthopedic surgeon Melvin Lee Makower.


The gift will increase to $46.29 million the value of the Foundation’s invested endowment, the appreciated value of which is used for grant making. The gift also increases the value of the Foundation’s total charitable assets under management to approximately $260 million.


“We had been aware of Dr. Makower’s intent for a gift to us,” said Foundation President Michael Howe, “but the size and generosity of it was a surprise. This wonderful gift from Dr. Makower enhances our capabilities for grant making addressed at the East Bay’s most serious needs in strengthening families, neighborhood & community building, the environment, education & youth development, and arts & culture. Dr. Makower’s legacy is not only as an unassuming man who was one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the East Bay, but also as an individual who cared deeply about his community and its future,” said Howe.


Makower, who died in 1996 at the age 81, was survived by his second wife, Maurine Makower. She died in 2005. The subsequent settlement of Dr. Makower’s estate cleared the way for his gift to the Foundation.


“As far back as the 1980s, Dr. Makower had been aware of the Foundation and our work,” said Howe. “We met with him personally in 1996 before his death to discuss his interest in philanthropy and the gift proceeded from those conversations.”


Makower’s niece, Marlene Seligson of Piedmont, described her uncle as “a very private man” who was born in San Francisco, but moved to the East Bay with his family during his school years. She said Makower received his undergraduate degree from University of California, Berkeley, studied medicine at University of California, San Francisco, and was a U.S. Army surgeon during World War II before returning to the Bay Area to practice medicine at Children’s Hospital in Oakland and at Herrick and Alta Bates hospitals in Berkeley.


“Medicine and music were his passions,” said Seligson. “He played saxophone and clarinet at an early age. When he died, he had 33 linear feet of vinyl records in his collection.”


The gift will strengthen the Foundation’s annual $3 million in grants made from its own endowment and from specific partnerships with those who hold charitable funds with the Foundation. These grants are in addition to the more than $18 million in gifts annually that are decided independently by the individuals, families, and organizations whose charitable funds are held and managed by the Foundation.


“We’re very grateful for and impressed by Dr. Makower’s generosity,” said Howe.