THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300356
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: DURHAM LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
The butler delivered a check for $10.5 million Wednesday to fulfill a bequest by Doris Duke to the university founded in 1924 with a $40 million gift from her father.
Bernard Lafferty, 48, was Duke's butler and confidant before she died Oct. 28, 1993, at age 80. She named him co-executor of her $1.2 billion estate and left him $5 million.
``All of her years, she has had Duke University on her mind and thoughts,'' Lafferty told the crowd gathered in the auditorium of a new science research building.
Lafferty later described Duke as ``delightful in every way. She thought about other people before she thought about herself.''
Duke University President Nan Keohane jumped from her seat to accept the check and spilled papers from her lap to the floor.
After the check was in Keohane's hands, the auditorium erupted with a standing ovation.
``This is an extraordinary commitment to Duke's future,'' Keohane said.
The money will be used to support teaching and research that cuts across the individual disciplines, she said.
``The bequest will help support scientists at Duke who are working to solve some of the most intractable problems that plague humanity,'' Keohane said. ``From finding the keys to possible cures for AIDS, Alzheimer's disease and cancer, to developing elegant computer models that will help advance our knowledge of the environment.''
Lafferty had asked the probate court overseeing Duke's estate to allow the $10 million bequest to Duke University to be paid and to add $500,000 because of the delay. The will has been challenged by a former executor who was removed by Doris Duke.
Duke also disinherited an adopted daughter, Charlene Gail ``Chandi'' Heffner, 40, and left the bulk of her estate to charities and foundations. Duke was married twice; her only biological child died as an infant.
If the challenges to the will fail, it would create a new charitable foundation Duke hoped one day would rival the Ford, Rockefeller and MacArthur foundations for philanthropy.
Her father, James Buchanan Duke, created the Charlotte-based Duke Endowment in 1924. He had amassed a fortune as the mastermind behind Duke Power Co. and American Tobacco Co. After his gift to the college, its name was changed from Trinity College to Duke University. by CNB