Tom and Christine Dearlove have been investing in young people for as long as they can remember. At home, their refrigerator door is lovingly called “the door of good deeds” and is lined with drawings and school assignments from the kids in the neighborhood. Children adoringly call them Mrs. Chris and Mr. Tom, and regularly stop by their house after school to tell them about their day.
“There’s an island in my kitchen where we talk,” says Christine. “You’ll see them stand there with their hands under their chin, looking to see if their picture is still on the door.”
The Dearloves’ warmth is contagious, as is their passion for making the world a better place. The couple recently established the Dr. Thomas and Christine Dearlove Endowed Fund for Medical Education at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine (OUWB). This scholarship, named in their estate, is the largest endowed fund of its kind at the OUWB School of Medicine. It will fund the medical education of students who demonstrate a special commitment to becoming physicians who change lives.
Recipients will receive awards to cover full tuition for four years, books and other expenses incurred by medical students, including travel to clinical sites. The fund will allow OUWB to recruit top qualified students and provide them with a world-class education, free from worry about tuition costs or a high debt burden upon graduation.
Tom, a retired research scientist for General Motors, and Christine have a special appreciation for the medical field. Christine volunteered at the Beaumont Hospital in Troy for more than 25 years, where she helped create a safe and welcoming environment for patients and families.
Christine volunteered on the cancer floor and would come home flush with observations she saw from the remarkable staff at Beaumont. That is why when Tom was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2018, Christine had absolute confidence in the care he would receive from the Beaumont doctors and staff.
“When I was a patient, I observed doctors calling upon patients while accompanied by students, and I was impressed by the demeanor I saw from the OUWB medical students,” says Tom.
That care, rooted in the OUWB curriculum, is what inspired Tom and Christine to give back in such a meaningful way to support tomorrow’s physicians. In addition to the generous pledge in their estate, they also established the Christine and Thomas Dearlove Endowed Scholarship which will begin impacting students right away. The first recipient(s) will be named in 2022.
In 2008, OUWB was established through a partnership between Oakland University and Beaumont Health. This partnership combined the faculty, staff and infrastructure of both institutions to build an outstanding medical school that prioritizes compassionate care. The school celebrated 121 graduates this year.
The Dearloves look forward to meeting the students who will benefit from their scholarship and seeing them develop into the kind of physicians our world needs. “Our lives have been touched by OUWB, and we are proud to support students who will go on to make a positive difference for other people in the future,” says Christine.
Learn more about how OUWB is transforming medical education in our community.
November 4, 2022
By Noor Hindi
