Jane Darrah Claflin

Jane Darrah Claflin was born on November 4, 1916 in Meridian, MS the eldest child of Robert F. Darrah and Willie Brown Darrah. Her father was in the lumber business and her mother was the second from youngest of fourteen children in her extended family. She had fond memories of her early years which she spent in Meridian as part of a family with countless aunts, uncles and cousins scattered throughout the South. During these early years her love of the Episcopal Church was influenced in large part by the fact that her maternal grandfather was one of the founders of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Meridian. As a teenager her family moved to Mobile AL. In 1938 she graduated from Sophie Newcomb, the women’s part of Tulane University. While attending college she lived with a beloved aunt and uncle enjoying not only college life but also the other many other attributes offered by New Orleans. After college she moved back to Mobile. On March 25, 1940 she married Richard Morton Claflin, a Boston native, who was working in Mobile. As a couple they moved to Cleveland OH for two years before moving to Springfield MA where they lived until 1953. In Springfield she developed her interest in hospital volunteer work.

Upon moving to the Boston area in 1953 Jane Claflin became involved with Massachusetts General Hospital’s Ladies Visiting Committee of which she eventually became chairman. In 1973 she became the first woman trustee of MGH and served until 1989 when she reached the mandatory retirement. At that point she became an honorary trustee until her official retirement in 2001. During this time she was active in MGH’s fundraising efforts and its various capital campaigns. One of her colleagues in the hospital’s fundraising efforts said, “she had no fear asking people for money.” She attributed her fundraising success to her profound belief in the cause of MGH. In 2002 she was awarded the Trustee’s Medal by MGH. She was the first woman and first non-medical professional recipient of this award.

While a trustee of the hospital she recognized the challenge faced by many young women in academic medicine, who struggled to launch their careers while also being responsible for the care of children. She conceived the idea of establishing an award to help overcome this barrier by providing bridge funding for two years to help women with young children sustain their research productivity. The award she championed, later named the Claflin Award in her honor, is now granted annually to six women conducting medical research at MGH. The program was launched in 1997, has been provided to 128 recipients. Not only are many of the Claflin scholars still engaged with MGH or other local affiliated hospitals, many of the earlier recipients are now members of the hospital’s leadership. The program has been widely praised and is now copied by other institutions around the country.

In addition to her involvement at MGH she also had been a trustee of the Faulkner Hospital in Boston and the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, an organization that made a significant contribution to the development of the oral contraceptive pill.

In 1968 Jane Claflin became the first woman to serve on the vestry of Trinity Church in Copley Square, Boston. She served first during in the final years of the church’s long-time rector, Reverend Theodore Ferris. She served on the vestry again during the rectorship of Reverend Spencer Rice and was co-chair of the search committee that called Reverend Samuel Lloyd to Trinity Church in 1993. It should be noted that Sam Lloyd and his wife, Marguerite, shared with Jane Claflin deep Southern roots within the Episcopal Church, which may have influenced the Lloyd’s decision to decamp from Tennessee and move to Boston’s Back Bay in 1993.

Throughout her life Jane Claflin was a strong advocate for women to assume leadership roles in order to become effective contributors to the betterment of their communities. In this sense she was a pathfinder. She was a person ahead of her time comfortable within herself as she pushed boundaries. Yet she recognized the limits of what was possible for women of her generation and enthusiastically encouraged women of younger generations to strive for higher goals.

Jane Claflin was a life-long avid reader which enabled her to possess a solid knowledge of a wide range of subjects. This attribute, combined with a genuine interest in the lives of all those she encountered as well as her natural gracious Southern charm, allowed her to enjoy many true friendships throughout her long life. A constant theme from her grandchildren, nieces and nephews was that she was always actively interested in what they were doing and what they thought about issues that concerned them. She was a great listener, confidant and adviser.

She passed away peacefully of natural causes on April 6, 2020 at Springhouse in Jamaica Plain, MA where she had been a resident for eleven years. For the past several years, while she remained amazingly healthy for someone her age, she suffered from severe dementia. However, she always maintained her graciousness and was eternally appreciative of all the care she received. She was particularly appreciative of the care she received from Urcelina Stewart, her longtime caregiver.

She leaves her sons and daughters-in-laws, Thomas and Rachel Claflin of Boston and Concord MA and Robert and Kyri Claflin of Concord NH, four grandchildren and their spouses, John and Camille Claflin of West Hollywood CA, Richard and Marc Claflin of New York City, Thomas Claflin of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and Henry Claflin and Leanne Laylor of Toronto Ontario, three step-grandchildren, Christopher and Sylvia Perry of Lincoln MA, Alexander and Laurel Perry of Baltimore MD and Julia and Benjamin Elliott of Concord MA. In addition she leaves three great-grandchildren, eight step-great grandchildren and six nieces and nephews. Her only sister, Ann Darrah Ray of Atlanta GA, predeceased her in 2011. Her family plans to hold a memorial service to celebrate her long life when the current restrictions upon such gatherings are no longer necessary. In lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Massachusetts General Hospital or Trinity Church in Boston.