In 1999, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation was the honored recipient of its first million-dollar gift.
Beverlee Dorn, the generous donor, thought the choice was obvious. "I wanted to continue to support in a major way the vital work of the Foundation," she explains. "I love being a grandmother - and I want my grandchildren and their children to have healthy, happy lives."
"Beverlee Dorn's extraordinarily generous gift to the Foundation, our first $1 million gift ever, continues a wonderful tradition of support for this organization by Bev and her late husband, Ernie Dorn, Sr.," says Dr. Ford Bell, MHIF president.
Beverlee and Ernie Dorn, Sr. (center) surrounded by members of their family.
Ernie Dorn, Sr., who was a business and philanthropic leader in the Twin Cities, was one of so many people whose lives were touched by the physicians of the Minneapolis Heart Institute, and who then went on to become major supporters of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. In fact, it was Ernie Dorn, Sr. who helped launch the Foundation, when he walked into Dr. Demetre Nicoloff's office back in 1982 and said that he wanted to make a contribution to express his gratitude for the great care he had received from Dr. Nicoloff and other physicians at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. That expression of gratitude came in the form of a check for $100,000. From that day forward, with the ongoing support of the Dorn family, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation has continued to grow into the world-class research and education organization that it is today.
Ernie was an active and valuable member of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation's board of directors from 1985 until his death in 1995. With the record-setting generosity of Beverlee Dorn's million-dollar gift in 1999, the legacy of the Dorns' commitment to the heart health of this community and the world around them lives on.
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