CCHS mourns death of longtime librarian

Posted by Press Release on April 28, 2016

The Chester County Historical Society is saddened to announce the passing of Librarian Diane P. Rofini, 60, of Havertown, on April 18. She died from an intracerebral hemorrhage at Bryn Mawr Hospital.

Librarian at CCHS since early 1997, Rofini’s cheerful and friendly manner in the reading room will be greatly missed. While at CCHS, her major accomplishment was creating subject access to the library's diverse manuscript collections. Through a series of grant projects, she processed papers pertaining to women's organizations, Civil War letters, early colonial life, civil rights, social reform, and family history, according to a CCHS press release.

Early in her tenure as librarian she co-curated “A Passion for Paper: Treasures from the Library and Archives.” In 2000 she curated an exhibition titled “Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: the World of Chester County Naturalists,” which featured Graceanna Lewis, Humphry Marshall and William Darlington, to name a few. She also played a significant role in the team that curated the society's recent Civil War exhibit.

Rofini became acquainted with CCHS when she was completing her master's in biology at West Chester University and came to the library to examine the account books of Hoopes, Bro. & Thomas Nurseries for her thesis project.

Subsequently, she became a grant employee at CCHS working closely with economic historian Lucy Simler in cataloging the society's account book collection. She also processed the papers of forester Joseph Trimble Rothrock and cataloged Campbell Weir's collection of sporting books before becoming an archivist at the Quaker Collection at Haverford College.

She received a bachelor’s in biology from Bloomsburg State College, a master’s in biology from West Chester University, and a master’s in library and information science from Drexel University.

Rofini will be remembered for her love of gardening, cats, sports, music, and colorful shoes. She made the society's reading room a welcoming place for researchers and fostered their curiosity on any topic.

She was a longtime member of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The family requests that memorial contributions be made to PHS's Plant One Million campaign, the goal of which is to restore the tree canopy cover in the Greater Philadelphia region. For more information, see http://phsonline.org/programs/plant-one-million. Donations may be made online at https://www.pennhort.net/sslpage.aspx?pid=372.

Survivers include her sister, Laurie A. Rofini, director of the Chester County Archives and Records Services. Arrangements for a memorial service are pending, the release said.