Morristown businessman Noel Montepeque wanted to honor Gemma Hite and her late husband, Tom, for their kindness. In their honor, Montepeque made a $10,000 donation to the Morristown-Hamblen Hospital Foundation Friday afternoon to fund the “Safe Sleep Accreditation” project within Morristown-Hamblen Healthcare System’s labor and delivery department. Gemma, who will turn 90-years-old this weekend, was present for the presentation with her son, Steve Walker.
Foundation President R. Michael Fishman said that accepting the gift was one of the “fun” things about his job. “For many of us, we’re blessed to have such a wonderful team here at this hospital,” Fishman said.
“I’m blessed to have the opportunity to serve in this capacity to help the hospital.” He thanked Montepeque for his time and service to the board. “He’s interested and he’s passionate about our community,” Fishman said.
“Things cost money. In this particular case, we’re happy that you chose the foundation to carry out that thought.” Montepeque expressed his appreciation to the foundation.
“They took the time to get to know me better,” Montepeque said. “I’m a one-on-one (person). They took the time to invite me to lunch one day and I told them, ‘It takes one-on-one to get to know each other.
’” A couple of months went by and CAO Gordon Lintz had Montepeque over for lunch again. “I don’t want to take all of the credit,” Montepeque said. “The contribution was made .