When Jay Baker decided to surprise his wife, Patty, with a $5 million gift in her honor to what was then called Humane Society Naples, he was concerned that the news would leak out before it was announced at the organization’s gala in March. “I’ve done surprise parties for her for other things, and she’s always found out,” Jay Baker said during a recent interview with the couple at the newly renamed Patty Baker Humane Society Naples. “But this, she didn’t find out.” The small number of staff members at the Humane Society who knew about the gift had been sworn to secrecy, with a plan to make the announcement from the stage at the March 21 gala while thanking the Bakers for serving as honorary co-chairs. On the night of the event, before Jay could make his surprise announcement, Patty spoke up with a $500,000 pledge to the organization on the couple’s behalf. “I was thinking, ‘Patty, hold your horses!’” Jay said with a laughing glance at her. Asked how surprised she was by Jay’s gift that night, Patty said she was “totally gobsmacked.” “If I had been wearing socks, it would’ve knocked them off,” she said with a smile. “I had no idea, and usually I can figure out when he’s up to something. Not this time; it was a total, total surprise.” Shared love of animals leads to major gifts Sitting side by side at the shelter under a sign bearing the new name — and kept company by two frisky 6-month-old golden retrievers up for adoption — the Bakers talked about how their commitment to the Humane Society grew from a shared love of animals, as they both grew up in households with beloved family dogs. As a couple they have had several treasured pets, including a beloved shih tzu named Kizzie who they had for more than 15 years. They currently share their home with two other shih tzus, Diana, whose full name is Princess Diana, after the late Princess of Wales, and Tina, named for the late, legendary singer Tina Turner. “As a young kid I had little, tiny puppies, which is probably why I love shih tzus so much, because they’re small,” Patty explained. “I just always loved animals; I still do. If we had a farm, we would have all these [shelter] animals out there, you know.” And since, according to Jay, a rescue farm isn’t in the Bakers’ plans, he said he was receptive when Humane Society CEO Sarah Baeckler approached him with the idea of a naming opportunity gift. “We had talked about how we wanted to do something bigger here and it never quite happened,” Jay said. “Then I got a call from them, and it was just perfect.” Baeckler said she and her staff at the no-kill shelter had been brainstorming on ways to honor the Bakers for their support and modeled their idea on the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League in West Palm Beach. “That was named after a really influential person in that organization’s story,” Baeckler said in a phone interview. “And it just came to me one day that we should do that for her [Patty], if he would be willing. So, we put it together and I sent ...