Mary Mathews Dick and her husband Albert Blake Dick (inventor of the mimeograph and proprietor of A. B. Dick Company) built their home, Westmoreland, on Deerpath west of Lake Forest in 1902. The family were active volunteers and philanthropists, particularly in support of hospitals: Mary Dick with the Presbyterian Hospital in Chicago, and her son A. B. Dick Jr. with the Alice Home Hospital in Lake Forest.

By the late 1930s, the Alice Home Hospital desperately needed more space. After the death of her husband, Mary Dick had far more space than she required on the Westmoreland farm, so in 1939 she worked with her son to donate 23 acres for Lake Forest Hospital. She deeded more acreage to the hospital in her will in 1944, giving it a large footprint in what has become the center of town.

With the new hospital opening in 1942, residents of Lake Forest now ventured west of the Skokie Highway for important services. This key development would never have happened without the generosity of Mary Mathews Dick.