1931 Westminster Graduate Leaves College a Million-Dollar Bequest

Dr. John S. Witherspoon, a 1931 Westminster College graduate, left the College a bequest valued at over one million dollars following his August 20, 2000 death.

During the February Westminster College Board of Trustee meeting, the money was earmarked for the new Campus Center, a $13 million project scheduled to break ground in May.

Witherspoon remained a generous, faithful friend to Westminster College throughout his life. "We are grateful to Dr. Witherspoon for remembering the college," said Gloria Cagigas, vice president for institutional advancement. "Seminar rooms in the new campus center will be named in honor of his generous gifts to Westminster."

Witherspoon earned his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1935, and began a private practice after his residency. It was written that neighbors always knew who was sick in town when Witherspoon's Buick was parked in front of a house. This was a time when the standard fee for a house call was $3 and an office visit cost $2, but Witherspoon also found time to serve people who could only afford to pay 25 cents for treatment. In 1977 he received the National Bedford Award for Outstanding Physician of the Year from the Allegheny County Medical Society.

When Witherspoon retired from medicine, he joined the Ben Avon Heights council, serving four terms. For many years, the polling place for that community was Witherspoon's garage.

Witherspoon's duty continued from medicine to his church, the Ben Avon Presbyterian Church, where he served as elder, deacon and trustee. This duty to his church was passed down through generations of his family&his ancestor, the Rev. John Witherspoon, president of Princeton University in 1776, was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.

Witherspoon's passion in life was the outdoors and fly fishing. He fished the streams of Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and England, but he loved the streams of Pennsylvania the best.