Husband honors wife’s legacy to impact patient care

Ken Otsubo is a retired educator, wrestling coach and longtime resident of Orange County. He and his late wife, Yen thi, owned a local bakery and enjoyed playing golf together throughout their 38 years of marriage. Ken remembers Yen as “quite the social butterfly” as she was a member of several golf clubs.

After Yen’s passing in 2021 from cancer, Ken began to research the significant impact Providence St. Joseph Hospital had within the community and felt inspired to do more for his dear neighbors. He wanted to honor his wife’s legacy with a charitable gift that could impact future families in need of high-quality care.

Ken was able to amend his living trust to include a generous gift and an additional pledge to support the hospital throughout the years. To honor their generosity, Providence St. Joseph recently unveiled two plaque recognitions to Ken and his son, Vu, in memory of Yen. The plaques are located within the Center for Cancer Prevention and Treatment’s garden and oncology floors.

Just as the Otsubo family demonstrated, a bequest in your will or trust is a simple way to advance patient care by incorporating specific language to make Providence St. Joseph part of your estate plans. This type of legacy gift can be a specific dollar amount or asset, percentage of an estate or the remainder of an estate after other gifts, debts and taxes are due.

Generous supporters, like Ken, who name the hospital as a beneficiary in their will or trust are welcomed into The Sister Frances Dunn Legacy Society. If you have included Providence St. Joseph Hospital as a beneficiary, the Foundation would like to welcome you into the legacy society as well. Members can request to be anonymous and will have their generosity honored on a more confidential level.

Learn more about your gift options and how you can leave a charitable legacy by contacting Christopher Dukes, director of gift planning, at 626-252-1097 or Christopher.Dukes@providence.org.