Dr. Mary Stauffer, Downey philanthropist and treasure, dies at 103
Photo by Eric Pierce
DOWNEY — Dr. Mary Stauffer, a treasure in the Downey community for her philanthropy that benefited countless Downey students, died Thursday morning. She was 103.
Through her foundation, Dr. Stauffer donated tens of millions of dollars to the Downey community over the past several decades, with most of the contributions earmarked towards education.
Dr. Stauffer graduated from the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1943, the same year she married her husband, Floyd. The couple first lived in Montebello before coming to Downey.
Dr. Stauffer’s first medical clinic was a brick two-story office building at La Reina Avenue and 2nd Street in downtown Downey. She later moved to Gallatin Medical Center at Paramount Boulevard and 5th Street, and then finally into the medical offices on Brookshire Avenue, across from Downey Community Hospital, as it was known then.
Dr. Stauffer retired from medicine in 1993, three months shy of her 80th birthday.
She was a founding member of Gangs Out of Downey, and later joined Downey Sister Cities Association and Christian Business Women’s Association.
A conservative estimate is that Dr. Stauffer has given more than $6 million through educational grants and scholarships in the last 25 years, though the actual total is likely higher.
Her foundation – the Mary R. Stauffer Foundation – bestows $2,500 scholarships to 50 graduating seniors from Downey and Warren high schools each year, plus “monetary awards” worth at least $100 to approximately 800 students per year.
“Students are a good place to invest,” Dr. Stauffer told the Downey Patriot in 2017. “I live here; it makes for an educated, pleasant community to live in… I came from a giving family. When I see an opportunity, I can’t resist.”