Her philanthropy also established the Fresh Flower Program, ensuring the presence of fresh flowers and plants in perpetuity throughout Memorial Sloan - Kettering's patient care and public areas.

Cancer Official Steps Down Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr. abruptly quit his high post at Memorial Sloan- Kettering in New York.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Memorial Sloan - Kettering, American Cancer Society or Hospice.

"A woman finds out she has breast cancer because she self-examined or had a mammogram," said Dr. Paul Russo, a urological surgeon at the Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center.

Contributions to Memorial Sloan - Kettering Cancer Center preferred.

Donations in her memory may be made to Memorial Sloan - Kettering Hospital, New York Hospital or Rockefeller University to further the cause of cancer research.

More recently he and his wife, Eileen, established the Eileen Genet Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at Memorial Sloan - Kettering Hospital, New York City.

Patients with cancer and their families, and the Memorial Sloan - Kettering community will be forever in his debt.

With David, he took great joy in the recent development of many collaborative relationships between Memorial Sloan - Kettering and Rockefeller University, two institutions that they served with distinction in their pro bono lives.

He died peacefully on January 23rd, 2005 after a short illness at Memorial Sloan - Kettering Hospital surrounded by his friends and loved ones.