Bequest Continues One Family's Legacy of Love for Children

Giving Across Generations

Jack Puryear is a community leader in Central Texas who has been instrumental in the success of the Children's Blood and Cancer Center at Dell Children's. Jack is passionate about doing good for others, and his love for children with cancer will live on through a bequest in his will to support Dell Children's. "Providing a gift after I'm gone will help children who are suffering," says Jack.

Jack grew up in Beaumont. His mother, Ida Lillian Puryear, was a state and local community leader who participated in children's charitable activities through church and school. When Jack was 12, Ida was diagnosed with breast cancer, and despite being one of the first cancer patients ever treated with radiation, died in 1935 at 54. Ida's death left a deep impression on Jack that would last a lifetime.

After serving as an aerial photographer in the Navy during World War II, Jack came to Austin and built a successful insurance and real estate business. Determined to bring hope to people with cancer, he became heavily involved in philanthropic work and joined Holy Cross Hospital Board, where he helped create the Shivers Cancer Treatment Center, the only cancer center in Central Texas available to the poor. Jack was also instrumental in starting the first hospice in Texas, Hospice Austin.

In 1996, a longtime family friend and Children's Hospital of Austin volunteer, Mary Frasher, invited Jack to tour the facility. His wife, Janet, remembers when Jack returned home that day. "He couldn't believe what the children were going through," she says. "He was determined to create a better place for them." Jack immediately took the pediatric cancer program under his wing and started opening doors in the community. To create the Children's Blood and Cancer Center, he helped secure a grant from the Shivers Cancer Foundation, where he serves on the board of trustees.

His friends admire his kindness and dedication. "Jack has been very active in the things that are important to him," says his good friend, Jack Brown. "He's played a big part in helping the community to improve in many ways."

For more information about the Children's Blood and Cancer Center and how you can leave Dell Children's in your will, contact Ray Blue, Senior Director of Development, at (512) 324-0170 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .