Bud Salloum believed every person owes a debt to the community that shaped them. He called it “community rent,” and he spent 96 years paying his in full — with interest.
Bud passed away this month, leaving behind a legacy that stretches far beyond any dollar amount or plaque on a wall. He was a philanthropist, a volunteer, a father and grandfather, and for 25 years, he was Buddy the Clown, visiting hospitals across Edmonton each month to bring laughter to patients when they needed it most.
“Nothing made me feel like I was really doing something like when I was a clown,” Bud once told us, his eyes lighting up at the memory.
A Life Shaped by Loss and Gratitude
Bud’s generosity was deeply personal. His parents both died young, his mother at 33, his father from ALS, and Bud carried that awareness of life’s fragility with him always. He described himself as a “graduate” of open-heart surgery at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute, and he was later cared for at the University of Alberta Hospital after falling and breaking his neck. Through it all, he remained, by all accounts, the most upbeat patient on the unit.
His late wife, Laverna, underwent seven surgeries at the University of Alberta Hospital for brain tumours before she passed away. It was in her honour that the Salloum family made a transformative gift to the Foundation’s Brain Campaign, helping to bring gamma knife surgery to western Canada and making non-invasive brain surgery a reality for patients who can now be treated and, in some cases, go home the same day. A room at the University of Alberta Hospital bears Laverna’s name.
More recently, when Bud’s daughter-in-law, Linda, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s at 54 and passed away this past Christmas, the family’s commitment to care only deepened. His son, David, and his family made a gift to the University Hospital Foundation’s Dementia Care Pathways Project in Linda’s honour, extending the family’s legacy into a new chapter of care, research and compassion.
Paying It Forward
Bud was proud of his children, David and Kathy, who inherited not just his generosity but his philosophy. Kathy received the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2022 for her extensive volunteer contributions. Bud spoke of his kids with quiet delight.
“I hope I’ve taught my kids that they have a responsibility to pay their community rent,” he said. “They seem to be doing it, so that gives me pleasure.”
He had the same hope for his four grandchildren — that the idea of community rent would carry forward into another generation.
A Legacy of Compassion and Care
Bud Salloum was recognized as Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year for 2025 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, an honour he accepted at 95 with characteristic humility. But the recognition he seemed to value most was simpler: knowing that his giving had made care better for someone who would come after him.
“Maybe I was here for a reason,” he reflected. “My parents got a little cheated with their lives. I’m living to be 96 because I think that I borrowed some of their time, so let’s make it useful.”
He made it useful, and then some. The University Hospital Foundation is deeply grateful for Bud’s life, his laughter and his extraordinary generosity. His impact, in brain care, heart health, neurological medicine and dementia care, will be felt by patients and families for generations.
Rest well, Bud. Your rent is more than paid.
