5 minute read
Susan and Ed Johnson
Planned giving is powerful.
As soon as Susan and Ed Johnson moved to the San Gabriel Valley in 1984, they knew Huntington Hospital was a special place. “Everyone that we talked to told us there is this incredible asset not far away,” Susan says. “Huntington is a rare and wonderful institution.”
Susan and Ed are longtime members of the President’s Circle of Huntington Hospital and have been making annual gifts in support of our work for more than a decade. The couple also recently decided to remember the hospital in their estate plan. “I’m surprised at how many people don’t make planned gifts,” says Ed. “It’s easy to do, and they are such a powerful way to recognize an organization you care about.”
Huntington does so much for the community, we need to come together and support it.
From San Francisco to the San Gabriel Valley.
Although they now call La Cañada Flintridge their home, Ed and Susan originally met a few hundred miles north in San Francisco. Susan, who grew up in Santa Clara, went to San Jose State University, while Ed, who grew up in New Jersey and went to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, trekked across the country to get his Master of Business Administration from Stanford University.
After Ed and Susan graduated, they both took jobs at the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in San Francisco, where they met. By 1972, they were married, and they soon welcomed their daughter, Kerstin.
In 1984, after living on the East Coast, the couple moved to Southern California. Ed served as the senior vice president and sector executive of the Times Mirror Company, the parent company of the Los Angeles Times and other news publications across the U.S. In this role, Ed managed the company’s professional information and book publishing sector.
Continuing the cycle of giving.
Eventually, Ed and Susan decided to focus their efforts on helping others full time. In 1996, Ed left Times Mirror Company and started an angel investing firm to help fund companies innovating new technology in the educational sector.
Meanwhile, Susan was very involved in the local community. When their daughter, Kerstin, was in elementary school, Susan was an active member of the Parent Teacher Association there, where she volunteered for the Red Ribbon Week and “Just Say No” campaigns. She became a founding board member of the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, which opened in 1990.
As first-generation college graduates who received financial aid, Ed and Susan recognize the importance of paying it forward. “Our mothers didn’t even finish high school,” Ed says. “But we received terrific financial support. That’s part of the reason we give back to the universities we attended, Huntington Hospital and other institutions in the San Gabriel Valley.”
For Ed and Susan, being in a fortunate position means they have a responsibility to pay it forward. “We’re sitting in a position now where we don’t need to leave all our assets within the family,” says Susan. Kerstin, who is thoroughly involved in their giving plans, strongly agrees. The family has committed to supporting establishments that have helped them or may help them in the future — from Kerstin’s former prep school to the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Descanso Gardens (where Ed volunteers every week) to Huntington Hospital.
Firsthand experience.
As a patient at Huntington Hospital himself, Ed knows firsthand the high quality of care we provide. When Ed had an outpatient surgery here, he was particularly impressed with the caliber of our facilities. “It was like checking into a Four Seasons Hotel!” he says. In addition, last year, he visited our Nan and Howard Schow Emergency & Trauma Center with a health concern. Thankfully, his issue was non-life-threatening, but he and Susan were incredibly grateful they could rely on Huntington Hospital. “I couldn’t believe how rapidly and completely they responded to me,” Ed says. “It was way beyond my expectations.”
The couple especially admires how engaged the hospital is with the local community. Ed and Susan recently saw a Huntington Hospital booth at a local farmer’s market, where our community outreach nurses were talking to passersby about the hospital’s services. “At least once a week,” says Susan, “Huntington Hospital is out in the community. They reach out to patients that may not otherwise have access to care. It’s very impressive.”
For those who have the means to do so, Ed and Susan believe highly in the value of making a planned gift. “Huntington does so much for the community,” says Susan. “We need to come together and support it.”
