John Lefferts

Tissue and cornea donor

Age 22 – Illinois

Donated on 10/11/2004

at Springfield Memorial Medical Center

Honored by Central States Fireworks

On October 11, 2004, John Lefferts died at the age of 22 due to an undetected aneurysm. He was an amazing young man with life ahead of him. Throughout his 22 years, he gathered friends from all aspects of his life and brought them together. He had just started school, hoping to fulfill his dream of being a massage therapist. John’s parents raised him and his sister, Eleanor, in central Illinois. John was in his school’s Jazz Band and played the saxophone. He was also a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, and his family dedicated a brick with his name on Busch Stadium’s sidewalk. Upon his death, John’s gift of life touched 37 people, and his family keeps John’s memory alive by promoting organ, eye, bone and tissue donation.

John’s Story

On October 11, 2004, John Lefferts died at the age of 22 due to an undetected aortic dissecting aneurysm. John was an amazing young man with his life ahead of him. Throughout his 22 years, John gathered friends from all aspects of his life and brought them together, something his friends have told his parents time and time again.

Larry and Vivian Lefferts raised John and his younger sister, Eleanor, in central Illinois. They were both very musically inclined, both in choir and Madrigals. John was in his school’s Jazz Band since junior high and loved to play his bari saxophone. He was working at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, IL and had just begun massage therapy school, hoping to fulfill his dream of being a massage therapist.

John was also a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan. The day before he passed away, he told his mom that he wanted to buy a seat out of Busch Stadium before it was demolished it that year. He would certainly be pleased that a brick with his name is part of the sidewalk at the new Busch Stadium.

John’s donations touched 37 lives, including two people in Missouri whose sight has been restored thanks to John’s corneas and who can now see though John’s eyes, and a staff sergeant in the military, whose knee was rebuilt with John’s bone and tissue donation. His family has done their best to keep John’s memory alive by promoting organ, eye and tissue donation. In a conversation with his niece Alina, who was born almost 5 years after he died, she feels like she knows her uncle because her mom and grandparents have kept his memory alive. May his memory live on in her heart, his family’s, and all who hear his story.