Caring for Needy Families

The archive includes vignettes of delightful social occasions, in which friends along the river hosted the Mayos at receptions and parties - just the kind of gala activities one would expect. Yet amid this social whirl comes the description of a different kind of visit - which clearly shows Dr. Will's compassion for others. A crew member recalled:

“We had tied up at a small Southern town one night. An unkempt old man came aboard carrying his tiny sick granddaughter. (The visitor had heard that Dr. Mayo was in the area. Worried about his granddaughter, he came to the North Star seeking help. Dr. Will and another physician on board provided a medical evaluation and advice for the girl's treatment.) While this examination was going on, Dr. Will engaged the grandfather in conversation. They discussed crops, jobs and the deepening Depression.”

The Mayos also reached out to local children. Dr. Will befriended Mary Elizabeth Giffin, the daughter of a Mayo Clinic family who lived in his neighborhood, and often invited her to join the North Star boating parties. A precocious youngster, Mary Elizabeth refused to be slowed down by polio, which limited her mobility in both legs. As an adult, and writing in the third person, she described their unique friendship:

“His was the loneliness of a man whose awesome achievements had kept him often from the casual camaraderie of his fellows; hers was the loneliness of a child whose affliction had earlier kept her from play with her peers.” Mary Elizabeth Giffin

His was the loneliness of a man whose awesome achievements had kept him often from the casual camaraderie of his fellows; hers was the loneliness of a child whose affliction had earlier kept her from play with her peers. Regardless of who they were, regardless of the chronology that said she was seven and he was close to sixty-five, each needed what the other had to give, and so they met as equals.

>> Marlizbeth