Stories

Jerry Throgmartin

Shortly after joining his family’s business, hhgregg, in 1978, Jerry Throgmartin discovered he had lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph glands. He and his wife, Peggy, had been sweethearts since high school and were married and parents of the first of their three children, Gregg. Scared but determined, Jerry underwent several surgeries and intensive chemotherapy, but still the cancer returned. His IU oncologist, Stephen Williams, M.D., who is now director of the IU Simon Cancer Center, recommended that Jerry leave Indiana and travel to Texas to enroll in an experimental bone marrow transplant study that ultimately saved his life.

“I know that someone was doing cancer research in 1979 that led to my cure in 1981,” Jerry says. He put these words into action when he honored Dr. Williams by funding the HH Gregg Chair in Oncology, a gift that allows Dr. Williams to guide innovative approaches to research every day. Throgmartin also serves as the chairman of the IU Simon Cancer Center’s development board.