Jill and Dr. David Young
David Young, DO, ’81, vividly recalls his father’s unfailing dedication to the osteopathic profession and practice of medicine.
The early morning rounds, the hospital procedures, his nursing home rounds and house calls. He remembers sitting with his father in the cafeteria. Even as a young child, he knew the nurses and other doctors held his father in high regard by the manner in which they interacted with their colleague’s young son.
Dr. Bleakley “Bud” Young died of renal failure at the age of 34 when David was 8 years old. He left behind a widow and four children. He also left the powerful memory of a beloved husband and father who had just started his practice but had already established a reputation as a consummate practitioner.
Dr. David Young honored his father’s memory, and his legacy, as he pursued the medical school and the profession his father chose.
“From the time I was a high school junior, I wanted to be a doctor,” says Dr. Young. “Once I got to undergrad, I was very driven and jumped at the chance to attend Kirksville. I felt honored to be accepted.”
Attending A.T. Still University-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM) represented a homecoming for Dr. Young. He was born at Kirksville Osteopathic Hospital in 1955. He describes his ATSU-KCOM graduating class as “very close” and “a family.” He met his wife, Jill, through a classmate and was married in Kirksville the day before his graduation. A recent retiree, Dr. Young looks back upon his 34-year practice having loved his profession and knowing he would do it all again.
He and Jill are also focused on the future by establishing the Bleakley Young, DO, ’55, and David Young, DO, ’81, Still Scholars Scholarship at A.T. Still University of Health Sciences-Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM). This endowment provides scholarship support to students admitted to ATSU-KCOM through the Still Scholars Early Acceptance Program.
The Youngs established established this endowment in 2020 with a significant charitable gift.
They further fortified the fund with a gift in 2021, followed by a generous planned gift commitment in the form of a bequest in 2022.
“Jill and I wanted to do something to help current students and also leave a final gift after I pass. We have saved and planned well enough that our retirement needs should be met,” Dr. Young explains.
A commitment to charitable giving is a continuation of another family tradition and legacy that the Youngs honor with their outright and planned gifts. “My family was going over some old papers and found a budget from my dad and mom from 1958. This was just a few years into practice. There was a line item to donate to KCOM,” explains Dr. Young. “The stresses of the current student population with school debt is well known, and if this helps relieve someone’s stress even a little, it is worth it.”