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As she stepped to the lectern at this year’s Donor Remembrance Ceremony, M2 Kendall Johnson spoke of her incredible gratitude for those whose selfless gift has had – and will continue to have – an immense impact on her journey as an aspiring physician.

“I never let myself forget how special it is that your loved ones came here to help us learn,” Johnson said. “I feel quite proud to be a part of this program and I hope that we can all convey our deep gratitude, not just for the donors, but for you as well.”

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Johnson was among several WMed students, faculty, and staff, who spoke during the Donor Remembrance Ceremony that was held on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at the medical school’s W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus.

Friends and family, as well as members of the community, gathered in the William D. Johnston and Ronda E. Stryker Auditorium for the event, which honored 65 Body Donation Program donors who donated their bodies to the medical school in 2022 and 2023.

“I am really grateful for this opportunity to gather with all of you today to honor your loved ones and to express our deepest gratitude for their truly incredible gift,” said Sara Allison, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. “As an anatomy director at WMed, I’ve had the privilege of guiding medical students as they learn the anatomy that is essential for their careers as physicians. But the lessons learned from your loved ones extend far beyond the study of anatomy. For some students their work in the anatomy lab may be their very first encounter with mortality. It’s here that students begin to understand the realities of their chosen career and are challenged to confront the emotional complexities of caring for others.

“This experience helps them develop the resilience and the empathy for their future roles,” Dr. Allison added. “And from your loved one’s precious gift, students have learned the true meaning of sacrifice and they have shown the responsibility and compassion required of such an important gift.”

Second-year medical students Audrey Kim, Mohammad Tourchian, Claire Van Der Bosch, and Elizabeth Wang honored donors and their families during the event with the playing of music and the reading of poetry.

Kim and Wang – with Kim on violin and Wang on piano – performed “Cantabile” by Niccolo Paganini.

“It is both serene and heartfelt, much like the legacies we remember today,” Wang said. “Quiet and profoundly moving.”

“As we listen, let the elegance of the music remind us of the lasting beauty of selfless giving,” Kim added. “The notes, like the memories of our donors, continue to resonate, carrying forward their spirit and their impact.”

After the students performed, the names of each of the 65 donors were read aloud and donors who served in the U.S. military were honored with the playing of “Taps.”

Each of the 65 donors who were honored at this year’s Donor Remembrance Ceremony will be represented by a glass leaf that will be added to the Body Donor Memorial Tree at the W.E. Upjohn M.D. Campus. Each unique piece of glass is engraved with the name of the donor and serves as a constant reminder of the individual’s selfless gift to advance medical education. The Body Donor Memorial Tree commemorates all who have made donations to the Body Donation Program at WMed since the program’s inception in 2014.

“Our donors, your loved ones, are the ultimate servants to their community,” said Christine Pink, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pathology, who serves as director of the Body Donation Program. “These students of medicine are going to go on to be physicians in part because of the priceless gift that your loved one gave to WMed. I am humbled and honored every single day I come through the doors for this gift that has been bestowed upon us and I only hope that I can live up to the legacies of our donors.”

As the Donor Remembrance Ceremony concluded, Dr. Pink read the poem “Remember Me” by Margaret Mead, a renowned anthropologist who for years studied cultures in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific.

“To the living, I am gone,
To the sorrowful, I will never return,
To the angry, I was cheated,
But to the happy, I am at peace,
And to the faithful, I have never left.

I cannot speak, but I can listen.
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore gazing at a beautiful sea,
As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity,
Remember me.

Remember me in your heart:
Your thoughts, and your memories,
Of the times we loved,
The times we cried,
The times we fought,
The times we laughed.
For if you always think of me, I will never have gone.”

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