For David Janitor, a 1969 graduate of John Carroll, and his wife, Barbara Janitor, education opened doors to careers in healthcare that neither took for granted. Now, the couple is helping ensure future generations of nursing students at John Carroll have the same opportunities.
The Janitors have committed $500,000 through a future estate gift to establish the David '69 & Barbara A. Janitor Nursing Endowed Scholarship, which will provide annual, renewable scholarships for John Carroll nursing students with the greatest financial need.
The gift brings together two important parts of the Janitor’s lives: David’s experience as a student at John Carroll and Barbara’s decades-long career in cardiac care nursing.
“It was never easy for us, coming from our backgrounds, to further our education,” said David. “We had to work for everything. We paid our way through. It is important for us to help those who are struggling to further their nursing education at John Carroll.”
“We wanted to help those who are on the margins get a good education and establish a career,” Barbara added.
Finding His Place at John Carroll
Originally from Pittsburgh, David chose John Carroll after applying to several Jesuit institutions. A neighbor who attended John Carroll helped put the University on his radar, and its proximity to home made it an appealing choice.
David initially studied accounting at JCU but later switched to marketing because he found it a better fit.
“I was glad to find marketing as rewarding as it was,” David shared. “There were a lot of great professors at John Carroll and in the marketing department. The class sizes were small enough that you could stand out. You were heard and could participate. It was conducive to learning.”
David remembers the relationships he formed with faculty and his fellow classmates as a key part of his John Carroll experience. Students helped one another, studied together, and built friendships that extended beyond the classroom.
“You did well because of all the people helping you,” he said. “There was so much camaraderie in the classes. I really enjoyed my time at John Carroll. Once I found my niche in the business school, I thrived.”
After graduating, David built a wide-ranging career in healthcare. His work included medical device and pharmaceutical sales, healthcare research products, and medical magazine publishing. As a North American sales manager for a pilot company, he also worked with products related to human genome research and DNA testing.
A Career Dedicated to Nursing
Growing up in central Pennsylvania, Barbara always had an interest in the sciences. After high school, she decided to follow in the footsteps of a relative who was pursuing a nursing career at St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Lancaster, PA.
After completing her education, she entered critical care nursing and ultimately spent much of her career at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, a level 1 trauma center and teaching hospital located in Philadelphia.
There, she worked in the critical care unit, caring for cardiac patients, including those receiving open-heart surgery. She also regularly interacted with students from surrounding hospitals.
“I was immediately accepted into the critical care unit,” Barbara explained. “That’s the only nursing I ever did or cared to do.”
Barbara’s dedication to serving others throughout her nursing career, coupled with her husband’s decades of experience in the healthcare field, eventually led them to decide to give back to future nursing students, especially as the nursing shortage began to affect the nation.
Creating Opportunities for Future JCU Nurses
As David and Barbara began planning their estate and considering the legacy they wanted to leave, John Carroll’s Jesuit education and commitment to training the next generation of healthcare professionals emerged as a natural priority.
“We both came from middle-income families, went to Jesuit schools, and worked hard to get through college,” Barbara shared. “We were blessed with good careers, from critical care nursing to teaching to medical sales. We wanted to see to it that John Carroll students had the same access to career opportunities.”
The Janitors are very involved with John Carroll and like to stay up to date on the latest news from its College of Health. They follow John Carroll on social media, subscribe to the College of Health newsletter, and often communicate with faculty members, including Melissa Cole, Dean of the JCU College of Health.
“When JCU announced its nursing program, I shared it with Barbara,” David explained. “I always worked in healthcare, and I knew a lot of people in the industry who needed nurses. I thought JCU’s program was a unique fit for what we wanted to do. That’s how we came to the conclusion. We were so impressed by JCU EMS, and meeting Dr. Cole reinforced that we made the best decision we could. After we’re long gone, the funds will continue serving nurses as they continue their educations and take care of people.”
Thanks to David and Barbara Janitor’s generosity, future generations of John Carroll nursing students will have greater access to the education and opportunities they need to build meaningful careers caring for others.
