A Love That Lives On: Jack Keffer’s Legacy for St. Jude

Jack Keffer’s love for his wife, Janet, is bigger than the lifetime they shared. 

In 1967, during the Summer of Love, Jack and Janet were high school students who found their own love in a small Pennsylvania town. Together through college, they married soon after graduation. Though they were just kids, they knew what they had was rare and they held on tight for the 50 years they shared. 

Decades after they married, Jack and Janet had built a life as beautiful as their love. Looking for ways to “pay it forward,” they began donating small amounts here and there to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®. Janet, a passionate educator, deeply connected to the efforts by St. Jude to keep families together throughout children’s treatment for catastrophic illness. In her career, she had seen how a child’s connection to their caretaker helped them thrive. 

Soon after Jack retired from a long career at an international manufacturing company, Janet came to him with an idea to purchase a brick on the Pathway to Hope.  This meaningful walkway through the St. Jude campus, composed of engraved bricks, was funded by families and supporters.

While the program concluded in 2022, these special bricks remain in place, honoring the recovery or memory of beloved St. Jude children. “We purchased a brick and Janet had it inscribed with ‘Paying It Forward. Calling On Angels,’” Jack said.  “So that was kind of our cornerstone.” 

“At that point in time, we started talking about how we could help St. Jude in a bigger way. Then Jan was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2015,” he said. Within 3 years, the cancer had metastasized, and Janet passed away.  

“She never got to see St. Jude, and I certainly have a problem with that fact. So, from that point on, I sort of took up the gauntlet,” he said. “I wanted to honor her.”

“St. Jude is in our will, in my will. But I feel good about the fact that I'm also promoting St. Jude and honoring my wife, Janet now — while I'm living,” Jack said.  “This is my legacy now, as opposed to just leaving what’s left after I'm gone. I’m seeing it work, in action.”

Like many legacy donors, Jack worked with a financial advisor to find ways his generosity could make the biggest impact at St. Jude. “I found out that there were things I could get involved in that made more of a difference than I thought I could possibly make,” he said. 

“My advisor directed me to a qualified charitable distribution from my IRA, which is tax free. So that was a great idea.  Rather than $85 going to St. Jude, more like $100 will go to St. Jude because I’m not paying taxes.”

When Jack learned St. Jude was breaking ground on a new family housing facility, The Domino’s Village, he jumped at the chance to put his funds to work while further honoring Janet. This would be his second significant gift given in her memory — each gift recognized with a plaque in her honor. 

“The Domino's Village keeps the child and the family together. So, supporting that was so far one of the highlights of my giving,” he said.