Nurturing their roots

<p>Davis and Judi Rembert have an attachment to Gainesville that has lasted a lifetime. He has had a fascination with medicine for almost as long.</p><p>Taken together, those two facts are the catalyst behind a generous donation that will benefit residents of North Central Florida for years to come.</p><p>In 2007, when Shands HealthCare announced plans to build a $388 million cancer hospital, the Remberts made a personal gift of $5 million to get the fundraising campaign rolling.</p><p>Davis Rembert, who has served on the Shands board of directors since 1998, says, "If you're going to ask people for money, you should step up to the plate yourself."</p><p>The Shands at the University of Florida Cancer Hospital opened its doors for patients on Nov. 1, 2009. The two floors sponsored by the Remberts have been full since opening day.</p><p>Their gift put them in the spotlight, but that's not a place where this philanthropic couple feels comfortable.</p><p>"When we thought about this gift for Shands, I didn't want it to be public," Judi says. "We asked the kids and they said, 'Mom and Dad, you are an example to others.' We are fortunate but we dig deep for what we have."</p><p>Whether you give big or give small, Davis adds, it is important to give.</p><p>Both Davis and Judi were born in what was then Alachua County Hospital and grew up in Gainesville.</p><p>Davis is the great-great-grandson of Gabriel Phillip Thomas, the town's first physician who came to Gainesville in 1852. When Davis was 12 years old, he lived next door to State Senator William A. Shands and delivered the newspaper in that area. Shands, who was instrumental in getting funding for the original teaching hospital that bears his name, became a mentor to young Rembert. </p><p>Davis and Judi were married when he was 19 and she 17. </p><p>"Judi put me through UF," Davis says. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1963, and the young couple went to Atlanta, where he worked as a sales representative for Corning Glass Works.</p><p>The Remberts returned to Gainesville in 1972, with Davis determined to start his own business. He bought a half interest in United Fuels Corporation, and later became sole owner. </p><p>In 1981, he and Judi opened their first Sprint Food Store, believing that people would appreciate the convenience of being able to gas up the car, get a soft drink, or pick up a loaf of bread, all at one store. That convenience store concept definitely caught on.</p><p>Twelve years ago, he sold his businesses — which included the Sprint Food Stores — but he continues to make investments and he and Judi have launched their own foundation that supports a select group of charities.</p><p>It was a neighbor, heart surgeon Michael Carmichael, who fed Davis's interest in medicine. Carmichael, who did some of the first open-heart surgeries in Gainesville, let Davis go into the operating room and watch a heart transplant one day. </p><p>"I think that was the beginning of him being really involved in Shands," Judi says. "It really got him interested in the hospital."</p><p>There's interested, and then there's being willing to back up your interest with a $5 million financial investment. It's a step not everyone is willing to take. Davis Rembert was.</p><p>"I'm still choking on that one," he jokes.</p><p>Actually, the Remberts insist that the more they give, the more they receive.</p><p>"It's black and white, just that easy," Davis says.</p><p>"I don't know if the receiver ever knows the joy that the giver feels," Judi echoes.</p><p>The Remberts have been on several medical mission trips to Guatemala with Gainesville dentist Randy Caton. </p><p>And then there's the barn project. Davis decided several years ago to fix up an old cattle barn on his property for his family to use. Two sons live on the property, and each has two children.</p><p>"I sort of overdid it," he admits now. </p><p>What he created was a comfortable space where selected organizations have been able to hold fundraisers. Old farm tools hang on the walls, the chandeliers are shaped from deer antlers, a huge cypress slab has been made into a bar. The barn can seat 250 for dinner, or hold a lot more for a downhome hoedown.</p><p>"There are only a few places in Gainesville you can have a big event, and you get tired of going to those same places," Davis explains. Then, tongue firmly in cheek, he adds that his remodeled barn gives city folk a chance to experience country living.</p><p>The Dignity Project, which repairs used cars and gives them to needy families, was the first to benefit from the barn.</p><p>"John Kirkpatrick and I went out and asked 25 or 30 friends of ours to put up $500 apiece and we hosted a 'boys' night out' in the barn that raised $50,000," Davis says.</p><p>"The people who receive these cars have jobs and families, or are in school, and there's hardly a way for them to get around without having wheels," he says. "Seeing the difference it makes in their lives, it just makes you want to do more."</p><p>Haven Hospice has benefited from the Remberts' generosity, as has the Early Learning Coalition, which hosted a barbecue cookoff at the farm. With a match from a donor, it raised $240,000. The party that gets Davis's highest "fun factor" rating was a hoedown for Oak Hall School that raised $100,000.</p><p>Young Life is another group that has earned their support. It supplies college-age mentors to underprivileged children.</p><p>The foundation has given money to churches, charities and Shands, but does not support politicians, he adds.</p><p>"We don't just write a check to charities. We check them out, and if they hold an event here, I want to know how they did," Davis says.</p><p>The couple is particularly pleased to see the new cancer hospital come to fruition.</p><p>"We've been on three trips through the new hospital because the first one wasn't enough," Davis says. "It is just beyond imagination. We hope that this facility will draw the doctors that we need to make a change in the fight against cancer."</p>