Meet 1892 Legacy Society Members

Diane Lafferty

Diane Lafferty is a retired nurse, mother of four and grandmother. The Delaware county native is following in the footsteps of her late husband Thomas Lafferty by including The Wistar Institute in her will. Mrs. Lafferty has been a longstanding member of The Wistar Institute Heritage Society and has seen the vital, impactful results that only scientific research can effect.

Thomas Lafferty was the president and CEO of TFL Industries. Prior to that, he worked at Boeing and, subsequent to Boeing, he worked his way up through Warner Concrete, before eventually buying the company. Lafferty was a mentee of Robert Fox, who is a generous Wistar supporter and member of Wistar's Board of Trustees.

Together, with the guidance of Bob Fox, the Lafferty's learned about Wistar's rich history of scientific contributions including the development of vaccines against rabies, rotavirus and rubella, as well as how the Institute has served as a training ground to scientists since it opened in 1894. They became well-informed about the basic science discoveries scientists were making daily for prostate, ovarian, skin, breast, and lung cancers.

"I believe in basic research and how it leads to new treatments for cancers and other diseases," Mrs. Lafferty said. "Together, over the last 20+ years with Tom, we saw the fantastic research taking place at Wistar and I have always wanted to be a part of the good that will come from our planned gift–even if that does not happen in my lifetime."

Thanks to Mrs. Lafferty's generous bequest gift, Wistar will continue to search for better treatments and cures for the betterment of humanity.

To learn more about setting up a gift from your will or trust, click here.

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