Dentist gives back to the world, and to Missouri S&T with a gift annuity

Dentist George W. Karr ’92 has spent much of his retirement providing free dental care around the world, and he is establishing a fund for pre-dental students while receiving income through a charitable gift annuity with Missouri S&T.

Dr. Karr has the distinction of being the only dentist to graduate from Missouri S&T—which doesn’t have a dental school. He began practicing dentistry in Rolla in 1963 and went back to school at Missouri S&T to finally earn his bachelor’s degree, in life sciences, just four years before he retired.

“I wanted to give back to the university that made a difference in my life, and I wanted to provide greater diversity for my retirement income,” George says. The gift annuity provides regular fixed payments to George for the rest of his life and will fund the George W. Karr Fund for Pre-Dental Students at Missouri S&T.

George attended the University of Kansas for three years and then went to what is now the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Dentistry. While in dental school he married Joyce Schwab, an award-winning painter of porcelain china who died in 2010 after almost 53 years of marriage and four children. Upon retirement in 1996, George became a dentist for Mercy Ships. He and Joyce, who served as his dental assistant, provided free dental services in 21 countries—and to Missouri children from a mobile dental clinic pulled by a pickup truck.

“Remember the childhood lessons, ‘Do unto others as you would have others do unto you’ and ‘Do a good turn daily,’” George says. “That was how I practiced dentistry, both here and abroad.”