小蝌蚪APP

Mapps Offer Direction to Success: Quality Healthcare

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Posted on December 29, 2020

Thomas Becnel

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This story originally appeared in the fall 2020 edition of South Magazine.

On a glorious fall afternoon 鈥� their favorite time of the year 鈥� Louis and Melinda Mapp pull up a pair of rocking chairs on the front porch of their Fairhope home.

They sit down to trace a family history that begins with business roots in Mississippi and ends with hospital philanthropy in Alabama. Both of them are volunteers as well as donors. They have the easy rapport of a couple who have been married 61 years.

He starts most of their stories. She finishes many of his sentences.

The Mapps are from Hattiesburg, Miss., where his grandfather founded the Faulkner Concrete Pipe Company in 1915. Years later, after selling the family business, Louis started a second career in finance at the company that became Regions Bank.

Since then, he and his wife have shared their good fortune with neighbors in both states. The Mapp Family Foundation has given away more than $6 million. The couple has made several six-figure donations to USA Health Children鈥檚 & Women鈥檚 Hospital, where Louis has volunteered in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

He鈥檚 a certified NICU cuddler, using his body warmth and a gentle rock to soothe premature infants. 鈥淭o hold one of those babies in your arms,鈥� he said, 鈥渋s just amazing.鈥�

This summer, the Mapps gave eight acres to USA Health for a Baldwin County medical campus that is proposed to include outpatient surgical care.

鈥淐ommunities can鈥檛 make it without good healthcare,鈥� Louis says. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 needed here. Why should a young family with a critical-need child have to drive to Mobile, when you can have a doctor with a subspecialty right here?鈥�

Owen Bailey, the CEO of USA Health, has known the Mapps for 30 years. They鈥檝e served on local boards and committees. As volunteers, they鈥檝e offered their time as well as their money.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 say enough good things about them,鈥� Bailey says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e kind, caring and selfless. They鈥檝e made a difference in countless lives.鈥�

Years ago, when the Mapps donated to a new heart center in Fairhope, hospital administrators planned the usual ground-breaking ceremony of VIPs with hard hats and shovels. Louis suggested a program featuring local heart patients and their families.

This year, when USA Health was looking at land for a campus near Fairhope, the Mapps owned two suitable tracts. Louis insisted that the hospital group accept the more desirable one, a $2 million corner parcel at the intersection of Alabama 181 and Alabama 104.

Bailey calls him a mentor and counselor who is gracious and humble.

鈥淟ouis is one of the most talented business people I know, but you would never hear that from his mouth,鈥� he says. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a servant leader.鈥�

Sunshine on the Eastern Shore

For a front porch chat, Melinda Mapp wears dress shoes, black slacks and a matching print blouse. Louis is more casual, in a gray long-sleeve T-shirt and faded blue jeans. He鈥檚 taller than his wife. His hair is shorter and whiter. His drawl is more syrupy.

Louis doesn鈥檛 jog anymore, thanks to his 83-year-old knees, but he still wears New Balance running shoes. An iPhone peeks from his shirt pocket.

鈥淚 love technology,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 an Apple guy.鈥�

鈥淗e鈥檚 a good geek for me,鈥� Melinda says.

鈥淵es,鈥� he agrees, laughing. 鈥淚鈥檓 her Geek Squad.鈥�

The Mapps have three children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Their daughter鈥檚 family lives in Fairhope, while one son is in Mississippi and the other is in Florida.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 go to visit much anymore,鈥� Louis says. 鈥淭hey come here.鈥�

Joining the Mapps on their front porch is a five-year-old dachshund. Animal welfare is another one of their interests. Sunshine is part of that story.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a rescue,鈥� Louis says.

鈥淥ur second rescue dog,鈥� Melinda says.

鈥淔rom 鈥楾he Haven,鈥欌�� Louis says. 鈥淎 Fairhope-Mobile animal shelter.鈥�

鈥淲e found out about her from a friend,鈥� Melinda says. 鈥淲e had just lost another dog.鈥�

鈥淚 got this e-mail saying 鈥榶ou need to go and see this dog,鈥欌�� Louis says. 鈥淭hen they brought her to the house.鈥�

鈥淪he went through that door,鈥� Melinda says, 鈥渓ike she鈥檇 lived here her whole life.鈥�

鈥淎nd the rest is history,鈥� Louis says.

Mississippi Natives

The Mapps knew each other growing up in Mississippi. They started dating when she was a sophomore and he was a senior at Hattiesburg High School.

鈥淗e was nice 鈥� very nice,鈥� Melinda says. 鈥淎nd my older brother was so particular about who I dated. Mother and dad would always say, 鈥業s it OK if she goes out with so-and-so?鈥� Then they said, 鈥榃hat about Louis Mapp?鈥� And he said sure.鈥�

Louis went on to college at Southern Mississippi, where the football field, Faulkner Field, was named for his grandfather. He was not an academic success, though, and never graduated. 

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 flunk out, but I didn鈥檛 do well,鈥� he says with a hangdog grin. 鈥淚 enjoyed myself.鈥�

His father told him that leaving school meant that he was either going to work or joining the military. Louis enlisted in the Army 鈥� 鈥淚 was a slick-sleeved private, about as low as you can get鈥� 鈥� before marrying Melinda and returning to college at Louisiana State University.

They were big football fans in those days. The Ole Miss and LSU teams were often ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the nation. In Tiger Stadium on Halloween Night, 1959, they watched Billy Cannon become a legend by returning a punt 89 yards on his way to winning the Heisman Trophy.

鈥淭hey were playing Ole Miss and I got blamed for it,鈥� Melinda says, laughing. 鈥淚 had just said, 鈥榃ell, I don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 so great about Billy Cannon. 鈥︹�欌��

The Mapps returned to Hattiesburg and Louis took over the family business after his grandfather died. He jokes that he earned his MBA on the job. Years later, he took his business experience to the banking industry.

He makes it sound simple.

鈥淭he basics are the same,鈥� Louis says. 鈥淭reat your customers right, treat your employees right, and you鈥檒l be all right.鈥�

A Commitment to Service

In Baldwin County, the Mapps remain active in the Fairhope Christian Church, where Louis offers computer support. He helped the pastor set up live streaming so quarantined members can join Sunday services from home. He also took a series of photographs for a church display, using his iPhone as a technical and artistic challenge.

He has a passion for automobiles that is also related to engineering and technology. He loves to drive his Audi Q8, especially at night.

鈥淚鈥檒l tell you what it鈥檚 got,鈥� Louis says. 鈥淭his Audi has night vision with infrared cameras and thermal imaging. If I鈥檓 going down the road in the dark and there鈥檚 a jogger or bicyclist, they light right up.鈥�

For many years, Melinda volunteered at hospitals in Mississippi and Alabama. She preferred working with staff and patients in the emergency room.

鈥淚t was always interesting,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f there was a family that was worried or distressed, I could run errands or do whatever they needed me to do.鈥�

At Children鈥檚 & Women鈥檚 Hospital in Mobile, a tour of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit touched Louis鈥� heart. Like Melinda, he wanted to work in the busiest wards of the hospital. Last year, he also volunteered to work with the families of patients in the Trauma Center at University Hospital in Mobile.

鈥淚 knew there were some really sick people and they were getting great care,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wanted to be a part of that.鈥�

Closer to home is their land grant to USA Health. The couple don鈥檛 often lend their names to a project, but this is an exception. They鈥檙e invested in the Mapp Family Campus.

They see a need for everyone in Baldwin County, themselves included.

鈥淲e鈥檙e at an age where it鈥檚 not so easy to go back and forth across Mobile Bay,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e had so many people tell me, since the announcement was made, how excited they are to have this in Baldwin County.鈥�

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