Long before cancer research began transforming outcomes for patients, Tom Yawkey saw promise in a Boston pathologist named Sidney Farber. Farber believed the laboratory and the bedside should work as one, and Tom became one of his earliest and most steadfast supporters.
His involvement was deeply personal. Tom joined Dana-Farber’s Board of Trustees in the 1950s and went on to lead it for 16 years. In 1953, he helped bring the Boston Red Sox and the Jimmy Fund together in what became one of the most celebrated charitable partnerships in sports. In 1971, as board chairman, he took part in the cornerstone ceremony for the building that would become Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. After his death, Jean Yawkey carried on that work as chair and trustee.
This fall, the Yawkey Foundation honored that history with a $50 million grant to Dana-Farber. A new bridge connecting the Yawkey Center for Cancer Care to the Lavine Bekenstein Cancer Hospital will bear Jean and Tom’s names. It’s a fitting tribute to a man whose motto was to do what is right, quietly, and without expecting praise.