A Giving Legacy
Texas Tech Health El Paso Breaks Ground on Gary Petz Memorial Garden Honoring Willed Body Donors
The memorial will sit among the next generation of healers
Texas Tech Health El Paso broke ground on the Gary Petz Memorial Garden with a heartfelt ceremony on April 18, honoring those who donated their bodies to the university’s Willed Body Program.
The site will serve as the final resting place for the unclaimed cremains of Willed Body Program participants who donated their bodies for the advancement of medical science at the Foster School of Medicine. With 50 sets of unclaimed cremains collected by the program over many years, the university sought a solution to honor the donors.
Faculty and students worked together to create a vision for the resting place, deciding upon the creation of a tranquil spot on campus to house the cremains of donors whose families had not claimed them.
The garden will be a meditative space, nestled near the buildings, classrooms and labs where future physicians are trained. The garden is named after Gary Petz, a devoted nurse practitioner who served more than 30 years at the Veterans Affairs hospital in El Paso. He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2012 and spent his final years under the loving care of his neighbor Patricia Carnacera.
“This garden is a reflection of the same spirit of giving and dignity that Gary embodied,” said Carnacera, who is the administrator of Petz’s affairs and estate. “He would be deliriously happy about the space. He just wanted to do something good for humankind after he was gone.”
A Life of Service, a Legacy of Giving
Carnacera learned that one day, years before Petz passed away, Petz had, by bus and on foot, made his way to the Texas Tech Health El Paso campus and initiated the paperwork to donate his body to the Willed Body Program.
While Petz was in hospice care, Carnacera reached out to the university to see how she could honor his legacy.
"We received clearance to install the memorial and repository with a budget of $25,000. Now, the question was, where could we find $25,000 for a project like this,” said Craig Holden, assistant vice president for the Office of Institutional Advancement. “It was truly right after that conversation that my office phone rang and a nice lady on the other end introduced herself as Pat Carnacera. She had $25,000 to donate from the estate of a man who had willed his body to our program. I was speechless for a long bit.”
Once Holden shared the opportunity to fund the memorial garden, everything started to come together.
A Sacred Space for Remembrance and Reflection
The garden will feature an underground repository with an open bottom, allowing the ashes of donors to gradually return to the earth. The seal above the chamber will be inscribed with “Mortui Prosumus Vitae,” a Latin phrase chosen by Texas Tech Health El Paso medical students that means “Even in death we serve life.”
A commemorative bench and a wall bearing the garden’s name will invite moments of quiet reflection. Another sign, also written with the help of students, will read:
“In memory of those who generously donated their bodies to help future generations through the advancement of health education and research.”
Donations to the Willed Body Program allow the medical school to provide high-level anatomical instruction to future physicians.
The program resonated with Jock Tallman, who understood the benefits to humanity that science and medical education delivers. It came as no surprise to his children when he shared with them a document confirming his decision to donate his body to the program.
“After his passing, we spent time reflecting on the meaning behind that choice,” said his daughter, Charlotte Tallman. “In our grief, we also felt an overwhelming sense of pride and comfort knowing that others are learning because of his final gift. The process with the Willed Body Program went smoothly, making his wishes all the more meaningful and easier during a difficult time.”
When the garden is installed, the university will have a ceremony to dedicate it as a place of remembrance. It will stand as a testament to the generosity of those who understood that through their final gift, they are helping to train the next generation of healers.
About Texas Tech Health El Paso
Texas Tech Health El Paso serves 108 rural counties in West Texas and is a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution dedicated to preparing the next generation of health care heroes. Established as an independent university in 2013, Texas Tech Health El Paso is a uniquely innovative destination for medical, nursing, biomedical sciences and dental education.
With a focus on excellence in health care education, research, and clinical service, Texas Tech Health El Paso has graduated over 2,400 professionals over the past decade, and will include dental graduates beginning in 2025. For more information, visit ttuhscepimpact.org.