July 3, 2013: New York society is mourning the death of Cynthia Lufkin, prominent philanthropist and civic leader in New York and Connecticut, and the wife of Wall Street great Dan Lufkin, who sadly passed away at Sloan-Kettering on Tuesday from complications of breast and lung cancer. She was 51 years old with three young children. Cynthia was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 when she was 32 weeks pregnant with her second child, and her daughter was delivered early so Cynthia could begin treatment. Since then, she dedicated much of her time to fund raising for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and Memorial Sloan-Kettering.

Cynthia graduated from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. with a degree in biochemistry, during which she was awarded a fellowship in immunology from the University of Connecticut Medical School. She served on the Advisory Council of Trinity College in later years. She was elected to the Board of Directors of The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, where she served as Co-Chair. Cynthia was instrumental in support of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation- Peter Jay Sharp Foundation funded project at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center on the development of a DNA vaccine for Melanoma, vaccine research led by Drs. Larry Norton, Alan Houghton and Jedd Wolchok. Cynthia had dedicated much fundraising and consciousness-raising energy to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, driven largely by a need to show women who are recently diagnosed that they can get through it and that life does go on. Her understanding of biochemistry helped in developing, with Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the nutrition and fitness aspects of integrated medicine for cancer patients, and the Cynthia Lufkin Center for Nutrition and Fitness, at the Evelyn Lauder Breast Cancer Center, serves as a focus for this endeavor today.

To honor her husband's life-long work, in conjunction with National Audubon Society, Cynthia created the annual $100,000 Dan W. Lufkin Prize for Environmental Leadership to recognize "feet on the ground" service to the environment. The first recipient of this award was George Archibald, founder of The International Crane Foundation. In 2008, Cynthia was awarded The American Cancer Society Mother of the Year. She served on the board of trustees of Rumsey Hall School in Washington Depot, Ct. She served as a Vice Chair of the Museum of the City of New York Director's Council. She served on the board of the Women's Committee of the Central Park Conservancy. She previously served as a Vice-Chair of Safe Horizon, the nation's leading victim assistance, advocacy, and violence prevention organization. Friends of Cynthia loved her. She was beautiful and intelligent, generous and kind, and more than all, she was loyal. She had an infectious laugh that heralded her love of life and family.

Cynthia was an accomplished woman in so many ways, but most particularly, she would want to be remembered as an extraordinarily caring and loving wife and mother to her two daughters and one son. She is survived by her husband, Dan, her three children, Schuyler Hazard, Aster Lee Lufkin, Daniel Patrick Lufkin, her mother, Joyce Ford and her brother, Don Henry.