George Fait family continues their father’s legacy

The Fait family—Leslie Farmer, Diane Zillner and Joel Fait—at American Family Children's Hospital in 2013.

George Fait had long been a donor to many charities and funds associated with the University of Wisconsin since his graduation in 1950, but with seven grandsons, pediatric medicine was especially close to his heart.

George involved his three children, Leslie Farmer, Joel Fait and Diane Zillner, along with their spouses, in a $3 million transformational gift to create the George Fait Family Pediatric Specialty Clinics when American Family Children’s Hospital opened in 2007.

Since then, we have recruited more than 160 additional pediatricians and pediatric specialists and added 16 new specialty clinics, allowing us to provide innovative, complex care for infants and children from throughout the region. Prior to opening the George Fait Family Pediatric Specialty Clinics, we saw an average of 50,000 specialty clinic visits each year. That number is well over 202,000 today.

Though George passed away in March 2013, the Fait family has continued his spirit of giving to support patients and families. In January 2022, the George A. Fait Family Charitable Trust provided $2.6 million in continued support for American Family Children’s Hospital, the UW Health | Carbone Cancer Center and pediatric cardiomyopathy research.

“My brother, sister and I want to fulfill our father’s wishes to make a significant contribution to benefit the entire community,” shared Diane. “We wanted it to be something that would live on and really help people.”