Florence Yaffe (right), BA 61, with Karen McNamara-Mucha, BComm 85, at Concordia’s Women and Leadership alumni event in Toronto on May 12, 2016.
“Florence was tireless in her efforts to bring our community together,” says Leisha LeCouvie, Concordia’s senior director of Alumni Relations. “She loved and supported Sir George Williams and Concordia throughout her life. Her infectious spirit and energy were impossible to resist.”
Born in Montreal in 1937, Yaffe attended Sir George Williams University from 1958 to 1961, earning a bachelor of arts in political science. The only woman among the political science cohort at the time, Yaffe recalled feeling fully respected by her male peers and professors.
Her passion for politics was evident throughout her life. As a student, she was a member of the Sir George Williams Liberal Club. The club helped bring notable guest speakers to the university, including Lester B. Pearson, then leader of the opposition, in 1958. Yaffe went on to have a career that included work on Parliament Hill and with the CBC, and remained a lifelong volunteer with the Liberal Party of Canada.
In her final year as a student at Sir George Williams, Yaffe received a loan of $300 from the university’s alumni association. The support enabled her to stop working so that she could focus on her studies and on her mother, who was ill at the time. The gesture stuck with her and was a motivating factor in her decision to become a lifetime supporter of her alma mater.
In 1992, Yaffe received the Benoît Pelland Distinguished Service Award from the Concordia University Alumni Association for demonstrating outstanding service to the alumni association and university. She played a role in Concordia’s Campaign for the New Millennium, 1996-1999, both as a donor and organizer.
In 2008, she became a founding member of the Concordia Heritage Society, a circle of donors who commit a planned gift to the university.
“Florence truly believed in the value of education and everything that Concordia stands for,” says Silvia Ugolini, Concordia’s principal director of Planned Giving. “Thanks to her planned gift, future students will be able to benefit the way that she did.”
Of her planned gift to Concordia — designated to support Concordia’s greatest needs — Yaffe said: “Who knows how my choice to give back will impact someone someday. One never knows. What I do know is the help I received made a major difference in my life and I am happy to return the favour.”