My husband and I decided to return to Tufts after our lives ended to help educate future medical professionals
Thomas Mofford and Juliet Haines met as students at Tufts, and she was at his side for his 1955 graduation. They married one year later. Photo: Courtesy of Juliet Haines Mofford
“It was my dad’s wish to donate his body to science after he died,” our son wrote online. “I am really glad that he can still teach.”
Thomas Mofford, my husband of 60 years, was a 1955 Tufts graduate. He taught English and film at Andover High School, then English and American studies in Japan, Puerto Rico, and Spain, and finally at Northern Essex Community College. Bequeathing his body to a medical school offered the opportunity for him to continue his career. After Tom died, I found comfort knowing that although his time on Earth was over, he was able to continue educating young people who would make a positive difference in the world.
We had made this plan together years earlier. Determined not to burden our family with the exorbitant costs of embalming and funerals, as well as the decisions required in the midst of grief, we would donate our bodies to the Tufts Anatomical Gift Program at the School of Medicine. Tufts is where we met in September 1954 and where we both earned our degrees.
Juliet Haines Mofford, J60, and Thomas Mofford, A55, celebrated his 80th birthday in 2011 in Woolwich, Maine, where she now lives. Photo: Courtesy of Juliet Haines Mofford
“Don't post your decision on social media,” one daughter cautioned. “Folks with different religious beliefs might be offended.” However, all responses have been supportive. Instead of criticism, people ask how they might go about doing the same.
Our family later attended a “Service of Thanks and Celebration of Life” ceremony hosted by the School of Medicine, connecting that year’s 36 donor families with more than 200 young people preparing to become doctors, physician assistants, and dentists. These students wished to know who my husband was and what he had most enjoyed. I told them Tom was a lifelong learner who was seldom seen without a book. He loved people, films, museums, acting, poetry, camping, and exploring nature. They were particularly interested in hearing what campus life on the Hill was like “back then.”
One future physician expressed his appreciation by saying, “Without words and asking nothing in return, your husband taught us to understand.”
Meeting those students made me realize how important anatomy courses are for their education. While they spend countless hours studying textbooks and diagrams, it is only through body donations and time spent with another human in the anatomy lab that scientific concepts become real, building the foundation for their future work. As one medical student told me, “Your husband helped us to help others.”
Indeed, our donation made the loss of my best friend bearable. I deeply appreciated that there was more this dedicated teacher had to offer humanity. Tom’s gift truly meant life after death.
To learn more about the Tufts Anatomical Gift Program, visit go.tufts.edu/anatomical.
