Danny Thomas and the founding of St. Jude

As a young man, Danny Thomas had a simple goal: to entertain people. But success didn’t come immediately. Struggling to find work and with a baby on the way, Danny visited a Detroit church and was so moved during the Mass that he placed his last $7 in the collection box.

The next day, he was offered a small part that would pay 10 times the amount he’d given to the church — enough to pay the hospital bills for the birth of his daughter.

Over the next two years, he achieved moderate acting success but wasn't yet able to take his career to the next level. He began to wonder if he should give up on his dream of acting and find a steady job.

Seeking solace, he once again walked into a church, this time praying to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes: “Help me find my way in life, and I will build you a shrine.”

In the years that followed, Danny became one of the biggest stars of his time in radio, film and television. He moved his family to Chicago and eventually starred in Make Room for Daddy, later known as The Danny Thomas Show. Throughout his success, he never forgot his pledge to build a shrine to St. Jude. Once again, he prayed, asking the saint to show him the way.

In the early 1950s, Danny began discussing with friends what concrete form his vow might take. His shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus was originally envisioned as a general children’s hospital located somewhere in the South. Danny’s mentor, Cardinal Samuel Stritch, recommended he look to Memphis, Tennessee, the cardinal’s hometown.

In 1955, Danny and a group of Memphis businesspeople who had agreed to support his dream refined the idea, deciding on a unique research hospital devoted to curing catastrophic diseases in children. More than just a treatment facility, this would be a research center for the children of the world, regardless of race, religion or financial status. It would also be the first fully-integrated hospital in the South.

Danny Thomas believed that St. Jude could help families with nowhere else to turn. St. Jude would become a place where the world’s best doctors and scientists would work together to find cures for childhood cancer, sickle cell disease and other deadly diseases. (At the time, the survival rate for childhood cancers was 20%, and for those with acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL], the most common form of childhood cancer, only 4% of children would live.)

And for children with these diseases, Danny wanted to remove the burden on their families of paying St. Jude for treatment, so they were free to focus on their child.

Even as the idea was taking shape, Danny was raising money for his vision. By 1955, the Memphis business leaders who’d joined his cause also began local fundraising efforts. And Danny wanted to get the word out across the country about what he was doing and enlist the support of everyone he could.

Frequently, he and his wife, Rose Marie, crisscrossed the United States, speaking to any group who would listen. They kept such a hectic pace they once visited 28 cities in 32 days.

Along with the construction, Danny knew he had to find a way to fund the hospital’s annual operation. Danny‘s parents had been immigrants from Lebanon, and as he thought of ways to fund his hospital in perpetuity, he turned to his fellow Americans of Arabic‑speaking descent. He told them this could be a way for them to say “thank you” to the United States for the freedom given to them and their parents, and to honor their forefathers who had immigrated to America.

His requests struck a chord. In 1957, 100 representatives of the Arab American community met in Chicago to form American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities, or ALSAC, which had the sole purpose of raising funds and awareness for the support of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Since that day in Chicago, ALSAC has been responsible for all of the hospital's fundraising efforts, raising hundreds of millions annually through benefits and solicitation drives among Americans of all ethnic, religious and racial backgrounds. Read more about ALSAC.

On the morning of Feb. 4, 1962, the sun was shining brightly as Danny Thomas saw his vow to St. Jude Thaddeus realized. More than 9,000 people had gathered for the grand opening of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

A 5,000‑pound, 10‑foot‑tall marble statue of St. Jude Thaddeus was shrouded in fabric atop a 1,000‑pound cornerstone. In the cornerstone were copies of the St. Jude and ALSAC constitutions, as well as newspaper articles about the hospital and some coins.

Standing on a stage next to the statue, with the hospital he had founded as a backdrop, Danny told the audience about the 75 cents sealed into the cornerstone, from a boy he had encountered at a fundraiser in Peoria, Illinois. Blind and partially deaf, the boy had been inspired by Danny’s impassioned pleas and yelled from the back of the room, “I want to help the poor, sick kids.”

In his hand was an envelope containing a half dollar and a quarter. Before unveiling the statue, Danny acknowledged those from across the country whose generous acts, big and small, made this day possible.

“A dream is one thing. A realization is something entirely separate,” he said. “I publicly thank you, wherever you may be, for the support of this dream. It took a rabble‑rousing, hook‑nosed comedian to get your attention, but it took your hearts, loving minds and generous souls to make it come true.”

Danny’s wife, Rose Marie, his companion throughout the journey to build St. Jude, wept as he spoke, and then he unveiled the gleaming white marble statue.

“If I were to die this minute,” Danny said, “I would know why I was born.” Read more quotes from Danny Thomas.

Danny Thomas died on Feb. 6, 1991, just two days after joining patients, parents and employees to celebrate the hospital’s 29th anniversary. He was laid to rest in a family burial crypt at the Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion on the grounds of the hospital.

On July 12, 2000, Rose Marie passed away and now lies with her husband in the Danny and Rose Marie Thomas Memorial Garden. Today, their daughters, Marlo and Terre, and son, Tony, carry on their parents’ work and remain a driving force in fulfilling their father’s mission. Danny Thomas is gone, but his dream lives on.