Janelda Bentrup
Janelda Bentrup went through the most difficult time in her life when her only child, Brenda Bentrup Mosenthin, passed away at age 42. However, through a planned gift to Texas Children’s Hospital, Janelda is fulfilling Brenda’s lifelong wish to give back to the hospital. “Brenda always wanted to give to the cardiology program at Texas Children’s Hospital. She would say to me, when we die – we’re going to give to Texas Children’s.”
Brenda was born with a badly deformed heart and was diagnosed by doctors at Texas Children’s Hospital when she was three and a half years old. The year was 1957, and a young Dr. Denton Cooley told Janelda he needed to do a heart procedure he had never done before. “Brenda’s heart had two valves and two electrical pathways. Dr. Cooley pinched one hole together to make two valves,” Janelda said. The surgery was a success and Brenda spent two months recuperating at Texas Children’s. “In Houston Brenda was known as Cooley’s miracle, and at home in Arkansas she was just a plain kid,” Janelda recalled.
The Bentrup’s traveled to Houston frequently for follow up exams, and it was during those visits that Brenda learned the meaning of philanthropy. “I would show Brenda the donor plaques around the hospital and explain why people donated money. I just so appreciated Texas Children’s Hospital and all the doctors, that those feelings were imbedded in Brenda as well.”
“I guess all mothers feel the same way, but Brenda was perfect and an easy kid to love. She was always such a happy person, even when she was sick, and she appreciated the beauty in everything and loved everybody,” Janelda said. Through her planned gift, Janelda is carrying out Brenda’s wish, and creating a living legacy at Texas Children’s Hospital.
Mrs. Bentrup is a member of the Abercrombie Society which recognizes individuals who have included Texas Children’s Hospital as a beneficiary of their estate. We invite you to support the hospital’s on-going mission of serving the needs of children through a planned gift. For more information contact Rachel S. Kronenberger, at 832-824-6907 or by e-mail at rskronen@texaschildrens.org.
