Mary Patricia Schubert April, 1963 – September, 2010
Tricia (left) and her twin sister, Paula
It is not unusual for the National Hospice Foundation to receive bequests. Many people feel grateful to the role hospice has played in the lives of their loved ones.
It is somewhat unusual, however, for the bequest to come directly from a grateful patient—someone who was receiving services, facing their own mortality, and yet actively made the decision to thank their hospice with a legacy gift.
But that’s exactly what Mary Patricia Schubert—known as Tricia—did.
She left $5,000 to Evercare Hospice*, in gratitude for the care she received during the last year of her 8-year battle with LAM, a rare and often fatal lung disease that affects almost exclusively women.
Her twin sister Paula explains, “She was diagnosed right after our 40th birthday. For six years, the disease progressed slowly. She had the chance to travel, work, and become very involved in some important charitable efforts. Going into her seventh year, her health started to decline and she got used to enduring a lot of pain. About a year before she died, she made the call to hospice.”
 Walter with his sister, Tricia |
Tricia’s brother Walter picks up the story: “As an oncology nurse, Tricia knew everything that was going on and what she needed.” Paula adds, “Tricia and her hospice nurse, Mary Griffith, became fast friends and that bond grew into a very special relationship. Mary went above and beyond her duties and our family will forever be grateful to her for her compassion and heartfelt generosity.” |
Paula thinks it was that bond between Tricia and her nurse that propelled Tricia to include Evercare Hospice in her will, along with other organizations that meant a lot to her.
Another organization to benefit from Tricia’s generosity was the Jatukik Providence Foundation. As the first president of this organization, Tricia had a tremendous impact on its mission to serves poor communities in the Congo, Haiti and the U.S.
Today, posters of Tricia hang in Washington, DC and throughout buildings in the Congo, several of which she financed. Although Tricia was never able to travel to Africa or the Caribbean, her spirit continues to live on with all of the people whose lives were changed by her works.
She also had a big effect in her community of Alexandria, Virginia. She was deeply involved in trying to make the lower-income parts of the city safer. Tricia was President of the Inner City Civic Association from 2005 through 2007 and was honored for her leadership, commitment, and unwavering loyalty to the Alexandria Police Department and the ICCA with an award.
Paula says, “Tricia never boasted about what she had done. She was very humble. Very spiritual.” Walter notes, “She derived a great deal of fulfillment in helping people. The joy she got was all she needed. She didn’t want headlines or stories; that didn’t matter to her.”
It matters to us at NHF that we were touched by so special a soul as Mary Patricia Schubert. We are proud to be able to share some of her life story with our supporters. We are immensely grateful for her bequest.
Tricia is survived by her brothers Walter and Joe (Debbie), and her sisters, Paula Schubert, Maria Saltonstall, and Margaret (Paul) Sullivan. She also left behind her nephews, Jack, Matthew, Andrew, Ryan, and Tim, over 100 aunts, uncles, and cousins, and her “second mother,” Dessa Ingram. She was predeceased by her parents, Winifred and Walter Schubert.
*Note: Because Evercare Hospice & Palliative Care is a for-profit company, they have a special partnership with NHF to sign over charitable donations. We are very grateful.
