Message from the President: University
Mourns the Loss of Mrs. Eleanor Taffner
September 16, 2010
It is with great sadness that I advise you that Mrs. Eleanor
Taffner, trustee emerita and generous benefactor of St. John’s
University, died on Wednesday, September 15 in New York City. A
Memorial Mass will be celebrated for Mrs. Taffner on September 25
in St. Thomas More Church on the University’s Queens campus. We
shall miss her presence among us and will be forever grateful for
all that she has been and done for us.
Her impact upon our University has been nothing short of
remarkable. The recipient of an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree
as well as the Gold Medal from St. John’s, she was a member of the
University’s Board of Trustees for more than ten years, chaired its
Student Affairs Committee and Athletics sub-committee, and served
as a member of its Executive Committee. The Board benefitted
immeasurably from her vision, leadership, and insights. Together
with her husband, Donald, a 1953 graduate of St. John’s College,
she shared a passion for St. John’s athletics, a passion that,
linked with the couple’s great generosity, enabled the construction
of the Taffner Field House, which serves as a home for the St.
John’s men’s and women’s basketball teams and supports intramural
athletics as well. Other reminders of the Taffners’ great
generosity abound on the Queens campus: the huge clock standing
majestically on the walkway in front of the field house; the
magnificent gold-framed mirror that graces the living room of the
D’Angelo Center; and the gracious fireplace that ornaments the
Faculty Club in Sun Yat Sen Hall are all gifts from the
Taffners.
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