LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) Foundation, which provides support to WVSOM, received a $65,000 gift in January from the estate of Kendall Wilson Jr., D.O., a graduate of the school’s Class of 1981 who also taught at WVSOM and served on its Board of Governors.
The check, presented by estate executor Steve Hunter, is the third gift from the Wilson estate. The WVSOM Foundation received an initial $80,000 gift in February 2024 and a second gift of $45,000 in April 2024.
Wilson’s third gift will support the Fredric W. Smith Memorial Family Practice Scholarship.
Donette Mizia, WVSOM’s executive director of foundation relations, said the school is thankful for Wilson’s gifts and that it will help medical students for years to come.
“This gift is a direct result of an alumnus who valued his education so immensely that he chose to remember WVSOM in his estate planning,” Mizia said. “Dr. Wilson had such a strong connection to the school that he ensured his generous gift was in perpetuity. This gift will bolster two scholarship endowments at the WVSOM Foundation, giving both the ability to provide more meaningful awards.”
Wilson’s gift also helps the foundation with efforts to qualify for matching funds from other organizations, such as the Maier Foundation.
Wilson was born in 1948 in Marion Station, Md., and studied biology at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., before completing a Master of Science degree in pathology at the Medical College of Virginia. He came to WVSOM in the late 1970s with the intention of becoming a student but was first hired as a pathology instructor and director of laboratories, he said in a video recorded for the school in 2022.
After earning a medical degree from WVSOM, Wilson completed a residency at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Mo., and additional training at the Cranial Institute and at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.
He established a practice in Lewisburg, specializing in osteopathic manipulative treatment and the treatment of chronic pain. He also treated patients at the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Alderson, W.Va. His passion for education led him to become an associate professor of clinical sciences at WVSOM, in addition to serving on the school’s Board of Governors for seven years.
Wilson passed away in September 2022.
Mizia said gifts presented to WVSOM through estate planning help ensure the school’s future, and that donors who contribute through this method receive a special designation.
“Estate gifts are a remarkable way to give back to WVSOM. When alumni and friends name WVSOM as a beneficiary in their estate planning and provide the necessary documentation to the WVSOM Foundation, they will be recognized in our Society 1972 and invited to exclusive donor events,” she said.
