Who are the couple giving millions to healthcare in Wellington?

While not medical professionals, Sir Mark Dunajtschik and his partner Dorothy Spotswood’s name are synonymous with healthcare in Wellington.

Their philanthropy has changed the face of Wellington and in particular health services across the city.

Between them, they have funded the Life Flight Trust, the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington children’s hospital and a 34-bed mental health facility in the Hutt — both for about $50 million — Hōhepa Homes for special needs children ($2m) and Victoria University’s Faculty of Engineering ($10m).

And now they have agreed to fund the base build for the new Wellington Charity Hospital, designed to meet the unmet needs of those from across the region.

Dunajtschik’s been open in saying the city helped make him his money and he intends to leave it here, leaving his estate to the Nikau Foundation to support people with physical and intellectual disabilities.

So how did a former refugee become one of Wellington’s biggest philanthropists?

It all stems from a story he’s told about how he came to appreciate health and a sound body.

A native German born in the former Yugoslavia, he spent some of his childhood in a World War II concentration camp before settling in Germany as a refugee.

Dunajtschik's family settled in the Black Forest in 1949 and his father, who had been a prisoner of war, was able to join them a year later. Dunajtschik moved to Reutlingen when he was 15, to train as a toolmaker.

While doing an apprenticeship he shared accommodation with people with disabilities.

“I lived for years in one room with 24 severely handicapped people and that made me appreciate when you are born with a healthy body and functioning mind, you are blessed.

He moved to Canada when his training finished and spent five years travelling, including to New Zealand. He decided to settle here in 1958 and set up Precision Grinders, running the company before selling it to his nephew in 1987.