Dr. Judy Johnson
-Veterinarian to Manta Rays?
Dr. Judy Johnson is a small animal veterinarian in Irving, Texas, but her friends say that her business card should read, “Veterinarian to Cats, Dogs & Manta Rays.” Granted, manta rays are scarce in Irving, but Dr. Johnson spends as much time as she can scuba diving and photographing marine life in the Philippines, Indonesia and the Caribbean.
During one of her dives in Indonesia she found a large manta ray tangled in fishing line with the hooks piercing its body. The manta ray, although wild and not accustomed to divers, stayed calm and allowed her to untangle it from the ropes and remove the hooks. It was a bonding experience for Dr. Johnson that may have saved the manta ray’s life.
As an OSU alumna of the College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Johnson thought about a gift to OSU in her estate plans for a long time. She is proud of her home state of Oklahoma and of the OSU graduates from the veterinary college and wanted to help defray the costs for third and fourth year students. A substantial current gift wasn’t possible, but a future gift from her estate seemed to make sense. She said, “It was so easy” to use the sample verbiage provided to her lawyer from the OSU Foundation. “Few people feel they are rich, but they don’t have to be [to leave a legacy to OSU],” Dr. Johnson added.
“The cost of time and finances for a Vet Med student is especially hard during third and fourth years,” Dr. Johnson said. Her scholarships will alleviate some of this burden for students who are working on their DVM with an emphasis in feline medicine.
Dr. Johnson has a soft spot for cats and hopes the students she helps will someday bring comfort to cat owners.
Dr. Johnson hails from Covington, Okla., and has two brothers and a sister, who are all graduates of OSU! Her parents gave them the feeling that they were capable of anything they set their minds to. Dr. Johnson’s estate gift is a commitment to future generations of capable OSU students who may need financial assistance to meet their goals.
