The late Robert and Marthe Jursich were passionate about children, their son Robert Jursich, Jr., said after unveiling the newly named Jursich Care Center, which is the current inpatient unit at Shriners Children’s Ohio.
“Dad and Mom wanted to take care of kids,” said Robert Jursich, Jr., of Akron, during a recent visit to Shriners Children’s Ohio. “That was a big thing in his heart.”
Jursich’s father helped expand McDonald’s in the Cleveland area, opening his first unit, the 366th in the country, in Cleveland in March 1962 after graduating at the top of the class from one of the first Hamburger University classes, according to this obituary. He went on to open a total of six McDonald’s locations.
The donation to Shriners Children’s Ohio came about after the Jursich family was searching for organizations helping children. Prior to his death, Jursich’s father also donated $15 million to University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital to establish the Robert and Marthe Jursich Care for Children Fund.
The $11.5 million donation is going directly to patient care, said Bethany Deines, senior director of philanthropy for Shriners Children’s Ohio.
“Because of their support, the Jursich Care Center is a place where life-changing medical care is provided every day,” Deines said.
This is largest donation in Shriners Children’s Ohio’s nearly 60-year history. This gift is also among the largest ever received by the entire Shriners Children’s organization, a 102-year-old health care system that has treated nearly 1.6 million children across the world.
Shriners Children’s Ohio is one of the four Shriners hospitals dedicated to the treatment of pediatric burns and specializing in plastic and reconstructive surgery. To learn more, visit shrinersohio.org.
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