Corewell Health receives $15 million gift for leukemia research

ROYAL OAK — A $15 million bequest from the estate of Harry Kirk Denler will make a transformative difference in the leukemia research done at Corewell Health.

Denler passed away in 2002 from leukemia at the hospital that is known today as Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak.

Ben Robinson, cousin of Denler, remembered him as a “great connector.” Robinson said that Denler was an only child but came from a large extended family and worked hard to keep them close, according to the press release.

“Kirk wanted to make this gift because of the care he received. He didn’t have children, and he wanted his wife cared for,” Robinson said in a press release. “But after that, he wanted the rest of his estate to go to the William Beaumont University Hospital. It was an aspirational gift. He wanted to help find a cure for leukemia so that others would not have to suffer from what he went through.”

Denler was a graduate of the University of Michigan law school, although he never practiced law. Instead, he managed real estate in southeast Michigan and northern Ohio.

Living in his childhood home in Palmer Park in Detroit, Denler was an active member of the Detroit Golf Club and the Detroit Athletic Club.

The Denler estate provided support for his late wife, Barbara Miriani Denler, who passed away in 2023. After her passing, the remainder of the estate went to Corewell Health in southeast Michigan.

“We are deeply grateful to the late Harry Kirk Denler for his remarkable generosity and compassionate commitment to helping others,” Ryan Daly, president of the Corewell Health Foundation Southeast Michigan, said in a prepared statement. “This gift will transform leukemia research and will improve the lives of patients at Corewell Health and beyond who have battled this devastating disease.”

The money will be going toward supporting investigations into enhanced diagnosis, treatments and cures for pediatric and adult leukemia, led by Corewell Health’s Research Institute.

Dr. Richard Kennedy, senior scientific director for the RI, said in a press release that the gift will be of huge significance in the future of Corewell Health’s cancer research.

“We will focus our efforts initially on pediatric leukemia because much of that framework is in place and then transition into adult leukemia and eventually, the transitional phases between pediatric and adult leukemia,” Kennedy said.

Leukemia affects more than 500,000 Americans who are currently living with or are in remission from the condition, according to the press release. This gift of $15 million will cover the full spectrum of investigation into the disease.

“We are profoundly grateful for this support and will do our best to honor the hope and spirit in which Mr. Denler’s commitment was made,” Kennedy said in a prepared statement.