Ruth McWilliams Leffall

Ruth McWilliams Leffall, a civic leader and philanthropist, died on June 20, 2023, in Washington, DC.

Ruth, also known as Ruthie, was born in 1930 in Richmond, VA, to Frank McWilliams and Lillian Grasty McWilliams.

Mrs. Leffall came from a family with a history of civic involvement and an educational legacy that traces back to the origins of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Richmond Planet newspaper indicated that Ruth Leffall’s maternal great-grandfather, Enoch H. Grasty, from Danville, VA, was a graduate of the first class of Howard University, and the superintendent of African-American schools in Culpepper County, VA. The Richmond Planet and the Pittsburgh Courier also reported that Ruth Leffall’s maternal grandfather, Captain Towson S. Grasty, was a graduate of Oberlin College and Howard Law School, and the only African-American officer on the staff of a Major General during World War I, serving as Judge Advocate of General Court Martials. Mrs. Leffall was also related through her father, Frank McWilliams, to the Rev. William H. Stokes of the influential Ebenezer Baptist Church, and Ora Brown Stokes, the civic leader, of Richmond, VA.

Mrs. Leffall attended Richmond public schools and graduated from Richmond’s Armstrong High School. Like both of her parents and her older sister, Margaret, Ruth attended Virginia Union University; and Ruth graduated with a degree in history. Ruth, like her sister Margaret, was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. After graduation, Ruth moved to Washington, DC, following her sister Margaret, who worked for the Dean of the Howard University Medical School. Ruth worked first at the Pentagon and then joined her sister at Freedman’s Hospital (now Howard University Hospital). Her sister had a dinner party for the purpose of introducing Ruth to a medical resident, LaSalle Doheny Leffall, Jr., who had graduated from Howard’s Medical School with the highest average in the school’s history. They married in 1956.

In 1957 the Leffalls moved to New York City, where Ruth worked at the American College of Physicians, and later at IBM, while Dr. Leffall had a two-and one-half year senior surgical oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. After the fellowship, the couple moved to Munich, Germany, where Dr. Leffall was assigned to the U.S. Army’s Second Field Hospital, and Mrs. Leffall worked at Radio Free Europe. In 1962, the Leffalls returned to Washington, D.C., where Mrs. Leffall worked at the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and Dr. Leffall joined the faculty of Howard University Medical School.

After the birth of Ruth and LaSalle’s son, LaSalle Doheny Leffall III, known as “Donney,” at Freedman’s Hospital, Mrs. Leffall devoted her time to raising her son, and to civic and charitable activities. One civic engagement resulted when Clifford Alexander, a deputy special counsel to President Lyndon B. Johnson, arranged for a meeting between Mrs. Leffall and the President in the Oval Office. During the meeting, President Johnson offered to nominate Mrs. Leffall for a seat on the City Council of the District of Columbia, which, in the days before Home Rule, was a presidentially appointed position. Mrs. Leffall declined the offer, but did accept President Johnson’s subsequent request to serve on the Board of the Peace Corps and its National Advisory Council. Later, President Jimmy Carter appointed Mrs. Leffall to the Advisory Board for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Other civic involvement of Mrs. Leffall included service on the boards of governors, directors, trustees, or advisory committees of the American Red Cross DC Division, the Bishop John T. Walker Preparatory School for Boys (Development Committee for school’s founding), the Children’s Defense Fund (DC Advisory Committee), the Children’s Museum, DC Prep (initial Advisory Board), Family and Child Services, the Folger Shakespeare Summer Festival, Ford’s Theater, the Greater Washington Research Center, The Lab School, and the National Symphony Orchestra Association. (Ruth Leffall’s love of music came from her mother Lillian, who accompanied the singer Marian Anderson on the piano when Ms. Anderson visited Virginia Union.) Ruth Leffall chaired or co-chaired many events including those for the Black Student Fund, the Children’s Museum, Iona House, the Lab School, the National Symphony Orchestra Opening Night, Reading Is Fundamental, and the United Negro College Fund.

At the same time, Dr. Leffall rose to prominence as a surgeon, and was the first African-American to serve as president of the American Cancer Society, the American College of Surgeons, and chairman of the President’s Cancer Panel. These positions required much travel, on which Mrs. Leffall accompanied her husband. In addition, Dr. Leffall was Chairman of the Department of Surgery at Howard University Hospital for twenty-five years, a member of the Howard University faculty for over 60 years, and later served as Provost of the University. All the while, Mrs. Leffall took a special interest in the progress of Dr. Leffall’s colleagues and students.

Mrs. Leffall supported her husband in his many other activities, including his service on boards of directors of for-profit organizations including Chevy Chase Bank, Chevy Chase Trust, Mutual of America, Warner-Lambert pharmaceutical company, and of charitable organizations including the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, C-Change, the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, The Charles A. Dana Foundation, Medical Education for South African Blacks, the National Gallery of Art Trustees’ Council, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (now Susan G. Komen), and the United Way.

Dr. and Mrs. Leffall supported many organizations including the National Museum of African American History and Culture (Founding Donors), the National Gallery of Art, the Washington National Cathedral, Howard University, and Florida A&M University. (Dr. Leffall received bis undergraduate degree from Florida A&M, and the Leffall family contribution to the university was, at that time, the largest by a graduate.)

Through their civic, philanthropic, and social activities, over a 60-year period the Leffalls developed lasting friendships with various members of the community, including Presidents and First Ladies of both parties, cabinet members, members of Congress, other government officials, foreign ambassadors and other diplomats, members of the philanthropic and artistic communities, and the entertainment industry. Through it all, Mrs. Leffall was known for her upbeat personality, thoughtfulness, insight, elegance, and sense of style and fashion. Not surprisingly, she and her son were featured in the book Mothers and Sons by Marianna Cook.

Ruth Leffall was a member of several social organizations including PEN/Faulkner, the Smithsonian Luncheon Group, St. Albans Tennis Club, and the Waltz Group, where she served on the Board of Trustees. In addition, she attended many of the events of organizations her husband belonged to, such as the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, the Cosmos Club, and the Metropolitan Club (where both her husband and son served on the Board of Governors).

Mrs. Leffall is survived by her son, LaSalle Doheny Leffall III, of Washington, DC.

A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square in Washington DC, on Saturday, November 18 at 10:30 am.