Enabling patients to access medical care and support is important to the Steen family. Don Steen, founder of United Surgical Partners International and a pioneer in the surgery center industry, helped make that possible for millions of Americans during his lifetime. Now his wife, Trudy Steen, children and many friends are honoring Don’s legacy in a way that will help others access support and help as they cope with the demands of cancer treatment, through a significant gift to the American Cancer Society Gene and Jerry Jones Family Hope Lodge.
It’s a fitting tribute for a man who quietly formed meaningful relationships with friends, colleagues and employees over many decades. To so many, Don was a source of strength and support, even as he shied away from taking credit. “He was not a ‘spotlight’ kind of guy,” Don’s son, Marc Steen, explained. “All the time, I hear about things he did for someone’s career or a charity he donated to that I had no idea he had even done. He just wasn’t the kind of guy to pat himself on the back.”
For the Steen family, Hope Lodge represents the kind of unwavering dedication and faithful support that Don gave to those around him. In recognition of the generous support from the family — the first major donors who helped bring the project to life — the Hope Lodge campus will be named the Trudy and Don Steen Family Campus.
Don’s close friends also chose to honor his memory with a gift that accompanied the family’s own, multiplying its impact and acknowledging the legacy that Don had built over the years in his industry and in his community. Led by Bill Wilcox and Ken Newman, the Friends of Don Steen gift raised additional funds for an initiative that would have meant so much to the man for whom it was named.
“I was blown away by the number of his friends and business associates who contributed, and the amount they were able to raise,” Trudy remarked. “I was very, very pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. These were lifelong friends of Don’s, both business-wise and personally. For them to do this was very impressive.”
The journey to wellness from a diagnosis of cancer can be a long one, fraught with many hurdles. Trudy remembers her husband’s own cancer journey and reflects on the months they spent in and around hospitals, getting Don treatments for his disease. In doing so, she and Marc also counted their blessings as a family that had the means to seek treatment in places far from home without having to worry about lodging, meals or other expenses.
“We met so many people who were struggling through their treatments, and also struggling financially,” Trudy said. “They had the cost of hotels, eating out and parking, and sometimes they had to leave their children at home in another state.
“Don would have thought that Hope Lodge was the perfect way to help people. It’s hard enough to go through cancer treatments without having to deal with all these other things too,” she said.
The whole Steen family believes that this facility will not only help alleviate concerns, but will also further support healing, foster wellness and provide a unique sense of community for people going through a similar journey. “This opportunity to help solve a problem for people — not just in providing them a place to stay, but also a nurturing environment in this place of healing — is incredibly thoughtful. Providing something like Hope Lodge for people really helped us make this decision as something we wanted to get behind,” Marc said.
Marc sits on the ACS Hope Lodge steering committee, contributing his time and expertise in guiding the facility. Through this initiative, he is able to put to work not only his business acumen, but also his experience as a family member of someone undergoing cancer treatment. It’s something that will always be top of mind and close to his heart, and is yet another way to honor his father’s legacy.
“We all are very honored to be a part of something this impactful,” Marc commented.
View the latest issue
View More Events