WAS HE HONOURED FOR HIS DONATIONS?

Among several awards, he was given the Outstanding Philanthropist Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2001 and was later added to the Hall of Fame for Caring Americans in Washington, D.C. Children’s hospital president Chris Gessner said Lexie was an “inspiration for us all.” Dr. Samuel Kocoshis, who worked at Children’s in the 1980s and ’90s, told the Post-Gazette his oxford shoes had a standing Friday date with Lexie. “He was quite an inspirational human being,” he told the paper. “He wasn’t a minute early or a minute late. Though he had learning disabilities, he really was a wizard with numbers” and would hold court on everything from sports to politics during lunches with the CEO and doctors.

“I think in many ways he really taught us what our ultimate goal was and that was to help children.”