Bob Busby

A semi-retired mathematician, Bob Busby is a man who knows his numbers. When relating his Fox Chase story, he shares two that hold the most significance to him: seven and 200. He spent seven years at his wife Patricia's side as she was treated for metastatic breast cancer. He figured out that in that time they visited Fox Chase 200 times. Today he is still awed by their experience together. "Fox Chase has such a wonderful atmosphere of care and compassion," he says. "I'd never experienced anything like it and didn't think it existed."

For Patricia, it wasn't just the caring atmosphere that made a difference—it was the access to leading-edge research and treatment that only a comprehensive cancer center like Fox Chase provides. Bob notes that his wife was one of the first patients to benefit from Herceptin immediately after its clinical trials, was among the first to try new radiation therapies, and only the second patient to undergo CyberKnife radiation treatment at Fox Chase's satellite facility in Buckingham ("she was there the first day.")

While they reflected on their gratitude to Fox Chase, Bob made another set of calculations. He and Patricia had been making annual contributions to Fox Chase, but he realized that support from their retirement fund could make a bigger difference. "We decided to make Fox Chase the main recipient of my IRA," he says. "It was the best way we could help Fox Chase care for more people. It's more important than anything else we could have done with our money."

Although Patricia died in 2010, Bob still brims with gratitude for Fox Chase. "My wife benefited so much from their knowledge and compassion," he says. "We had seven more years together that we might not have had otherwise—and it means everything to me to be able to help provide that for other women and their families."