Morristown Memorial Hospital Retiree Leaves $1.5 Million
for Cardiac Care

A head dietician for 23 years and a volunteer for 25 years more, Hedwig Rubpert Kammerer never stopped caring for MMH patients, and she made provisions to do so long into the future. When the Convent Station resident died at age 92 last year, she left a bequest designating $1.5 million to the hospital. 

“To have an employee make such a significant bequest is just phenomenal,” said Jim Quinn, MMHF’s chief development officer. “The board in consultation with the executors will select an appropriate naming opportunity to recognize such generosity.”

Mrs. Kammerer was predeceased by her husband, Frederick, who had also devoted his retirement years to MMH. A Bell Labs engineer, he used his ingenuity to outfit the hospital with the most sophisticated audiovisual equipment, from specially engineered security cameras to satellite hook-ups for conference and patient rooms.

“He was not only a genius but a character,” said Don Bradley, former president of MMH, who recalled how Mr. Kammerer, impatient at the long wait for parts, created and equipped his own machine shop and brought on a volunteer tool and die maker to make what was needed. The indomitable volunteer oversaw all video and sound in the Malcolm Forbes Amphitheater and even built a television studio so the hospital could produce its own educational programs.