E. Phillips Hathaway - In Memory of a Generous Friend

It is always difficult to say goodbye to a good friend, especially one as compassionate, committed and generous as E. Phillips Hathaway, who passed away in February 2004. 

Mr. Hathaway and his wife, Barbara “Bunny”, have been generous supporters of GBMC for many years.  Their contributions enabled the hospital to continue moving forward in providing the very highest quality of medical care to our community.

Mr. Hathaway interrupted his studies at the University of Virginia in l941 to become a Marine Corps aviator.  As a B-25 bomber pilot, he flew 21 night missions against Japanese targets, attained the rank of captain and received three air medals and the Distinquished Flying Cross.  In 1945, Mr. Hathaway and Barbara Sealy Mallory married and he moved to Baltimore, where he joined William Middendorf at the investment banking firm of Middendorf, Colgate & Co.  In 1973, following William Middendorf’s death, Mr. Hathaway, in accordance with Mr. Middendorf’s wishes, established the Middendorf Foundation.

Mr. Hathaway headed the Middendorf Foundation for over 30 years, one of Baltimore’s most active charitable foundations.  GBMC has received many generous gifts from the Middendorf  Foundation, beginning in 1971 when William Middendorf established the “Alice Carter Middendorf Garden at GBMC” in memory of his wife, Alice.  This garden helped to define the GBMC campus as a tranquil place of healing, a peaceful and beautiful sanctuary for patients and their families as well as hospital staff.

Recent contributions from the Middendorf Foundation include a $525,000 grant to the hospital’s 40th Anniversary Campaign to establish The GBMC Community Resource Center and Medical Library, a state-of-the-art information center, as well as expanding the current GBMC Medical Library.  Deborah A. Thomas, director of the new Community Resource Center and Medical Library said, “the generous Middendorf Foundation contribution will, for the first time, allow GBMC to create a consumer health center for community members within the expanded medical library.  This new combined resource center will be built front and center–located right off the main lobby–and will be a permanent legacy to Mr. Hathaway’s commitment to education and the Middendorf Foundation’s long-standing philanthropic investment in GBMC.”  

GBMC will always be grateful for the kindness, caring and generosity of E. Phillips Hathaway.