The Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine (JCA) announced today that following the passing of Suzi Osher, a long-time Maine resident and philanthropist, on Saturday, June 28th, the organization will be receiving a transformative gift from an Alfred Osher trust. The gift, to be received in the newly-established Alfred and Dorothy Suzi Osher Charitable Fund, will be held in a new entity under the auspices of the JCA. The fund is to be used explicitly for Jewish education, Jewish social and welfare programs, and outreach programs to promote Jewish traditions and values. 

According to Leslie Kirby, the JCA’s Chief Executive Officer: “This gift, the largest donation in our organization’s history, will make possible incredible growth throughout our community and region. We are fortunate that Dr. and Mrs. Osher made their Estate intentions clear to the JCA in a way that allowed us to anticipate this transformational moment over the course of time. More information regarding the specifics of the bequest will be shared within the coming months.” 

This is not the first time the Oshers have extended their generosity to the JCA. Mrs. Osher was the lead benefactor of a 2015 capital campaign, which allowed the organization to build its state-of-the-art center on Congress Street in Portland. In gratitude, the facility, which opened in 2017, is known as the Alfred and Suzi Osher Campus of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine. 

This gift is in furtherance of the spirit of philanthropy both within and beyond the Jewish community that animated the Oshers’ lifetime of giving. The couple’s philanthropic endeavors have benefited numerous educational and healthcare institutions, including Maine Medical Center, the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine, the YMCA, the Dr. Alfred and D. Suzi Osher School of Music at the University of Southern Maine, and Tufts Dental School. 

Long-standing JCA Board of Directors member Rachael Alfond has been selected by the board to chair the committee overseeing the formation and management of the Fund. “An opportunity like this only presents itself once in a lifetime,” Alfond said. “I am honored to carry on the legacy of the Oshers and their mitzvot - good deeds - that will have a ripple effect for generations.”

Dr. Osher, who passed away in 1999, was an oral surgeon and orthodontist who practiced in Biddeford, Maine. Supporting their community was always top of mind. In Suzi’s words:  “When I make a gift, I always follow it.”  Suzi established the Dr. Alfred Osher and D. Suzi Osher Scholarship at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine to honor her late husband, a long-term clinical faculty member. 

Suzi Osher was the daughter of French-Canadian immigrants, who faced substantial hardships weathering the Depression as a child in Biddeford, Maine. Mrs. Osher learned to value education and hard work. “My first job was playing the piano at a local music store when I was just 10,” she once recalled. “At 15, I was working for the government Census Bureau.” After high school, she worked as a bookkeeper for Alfred Osher, a local oral surgeon. Several years later, she completed a course in anesthesiology at Boston City Hospital and began assisting with procedures. In 1962, Dr. Osher completed the Tufts postgraduate program in orthodontics and became the first board-certified orthodontist in Maine. 

After the couple married, Suzi Osher pursued her interests in business and fashion, opening a specialty clothing store in Biddeford, a venture she called “my real career.” Even as she managed her own successful business, she stayed involved in her husband’s growing dental practice. “We were one of those rare couples who enjoyed working together,” she said.

The JCA is honored to have been chosen and entrusted with this ultimate act of generosity from the Oshers, and we look forward to facilitating its continued impact over the coming years. For more information about Mrs. Osher’s life and philanthropy, please read her official obituary. 

Rooted in Jewish values, history, and our connection to Israel, the JCA cultivates and sustains a welcoming and thriving Jewish community in Maine, and strives to build a better world for all.  Formed in 2000, the JCA is the result of a merger of three institutions: the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Federation of Southern Maine, and Jewish Family Services, which combined the programming and fundraising arms of the Jewish community.