SEPTEMBER
2001
DONOR HAS BOUNDLESS DREAMS FOR FSU
He hustles into the office carrying
a sheath of papers and a McDonald's soda.
No jacket, no tie. Tom Futch, health-care entrepreneur, FSU benefactor,
is running late and makes his apologies as he checks calls and
appointments.
Tall and lanky, with boyish good looks, Futch doesn't give the
impression that he's at the brink of monumental changes.
He ticks them off easily: He's about to turn 50, celebrate his
25th wedding anniversary, launch a new company, send his last
child off to college and sponsor an international tennis tournament.
And he's fighting cancer.
"A couple of weeks ago, I was diagnosed with melanoma,"
he said. "The doctors have begun to aggressively treat it."
But it's not stopping him.
"You have to seize the moment," he says.
Seizing the moment began when Futch decided to follow his
father into the health-care field. He was originally from Merritt
Island, and his career led him across the United States, finally
carrying him back to Florida.
Arriving in the Big Bend in the mid-'70s, Futch said, he created
a comprehensive medical rehabilitation center, Capital Rehabilitation
Hospital, now Health South Rehabilitation Hospital.
"In the early '70s ...there was very little medical rehabilitation
available in Florida," Futch said. "[Patients] had
to go to Jacksonville or Miami."
Although he did not graduate from Florida State, Futch said he
was drawn to FSU soon after he and his wife settled into the
community.
"FSU's contributions to education and culture and the friendly quality of the administration were a natural magnet to the native Floridians," he said. "We could see Florida State had such tremendous potential."
The couple developed a scholarship for tennis players. It was a natural fit. Ginny Futch, a tennis coach at North Florida Christian School, plays competitively.
The couple learned that although the university's tennis teams had some of the highest grade point averages, there were virtually no athletic scholarships.
The Futches set up a $50,000 endowed scholarship, allowing two tennis players- currently one from France and one from Romania-to attend the university.
They also sponsor an annual tennis tournament that brings some of the top champions from around the world to Tallahassee. The proceeds go to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital's Health-care Found-ation, Futch said.
Last year he donated $1.5 million for higher education purposes
at FSU.
He said he envisions preparing doctors, scientists and lawyers
who will "go out and carry that FSU torch."
FSU has named the University Center Club's ballroom the Tom and
Ginny Futch Ballroom.
Futch is turning his attention now to the university's master plan and the new medical school.
"There really are no boundaries to what you can achieve," he said. -Michelle Hayes
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