Personal Giving Stories
Grateful patient, pioneering doctor: Harvey Lemmen and Reed Dingman
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| Harvey Lemmen |
Modest about his own accomplishments, Harvey Lemmen (BBA '44, MBA '49) of Grand Rapids grows positively effusive when he speaks of Dr. Reed O. Dingman (AB '28, DDS '32, MS '32, MD '36, MDRES '45).
"He was a dynamic personality," recalls Lemmen. "He was very impressive, very down-to-earth. I had a lot of respect for him."
Dingman was a pioneer in oral and maxillofacial surgery, a plastic surgeon when the specialty was in its infancy and the founder, in 1964, of the plastic surgery section in U-M's Department of Surgery. A role model for three generations of plastic surgeons until his death in 1985, Dingman was equally well known for his gentleness and compassion for patients.
Lemmen can attest to that extraordinary bedside manner. Born and raised in Ionia, Mich., Lemmen became Dingman's patient in his freshman year at Michigan. As an undergraduate, he underwent about a dozen reconstructive operations for a cleft palate—"some of them minor, some of them not so minor," Lemmen says wryly—all with Dingman as chief surgeon.
He also recalls Dingman's larger than- life confidence. "I remember one extensive operation, when the head of the dental school asked Dr. Dingman if he had ever done it before, and Dr. Dingman said, 'No, but I know I can,'" Lemmen says.
When Lemmen learned of the Medical School's initiative to establish a professorship in Dingman's name, he leaped at the chance to give to the cause.
The reason was simple: "He accomplished miracles," says Lemmen. "He ought to be recognized for what he was." Lemmen's generosity to the Reed O. Dingman Professorship in Plastic Surgery includes a cash gift of $30,000, a bequest in his will and the establishment of a $150,000 charitable gift annuity (CGA).
He chose to give through the CGA because, he says, "I might as well give it now, and I thought they'd probably welcome that. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. And on top of that, I get a return."
It's a sound answer from a man who knows something about managing money. After receiving his MBA from the U-M in 1949, Lemmen went to work for Meijer Inc. as an office manager when the company had but four stores, all small supermarkets. He rose within the Meijer organization to become president in 1975 and retired in 1986 as company deputy chairman.
Immediately upon retirement Lemmen became an American Red Cross volunteer driver in the Grand Rapids area. The program was expanded statewide in 1992. Lemmen has driven hundreds of patients to hospitals throughout Michigan, often volunteering several days a week, occasionally making twice-daily round trips from Grand Rapids to Ann Arbor. He also schedules other volunteer drivers.
"This is something I can do that seems worthwhile," says Lemmen, speaking in the generous spirit of Dr. Dingman himself. "It's beneficial to me to see how fortunate I've been. I see people who are a whole lot worse off than I am."
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