In Rupert v. Policemen's Relief & Pension Fun of City of Pittsburgh, 387 Pa. 627, 129 A.2d 487 (1957), the decedent applied for membership in the city's police pension fund. The statutory law at the time of decedent's membership application provided that all member contributions would be paid to the member or his executor or administrator upon resignation or death while in active service. The decedent remained in active service for 20 years after joining the pension fund. In the period between the decedent's membership application and his death, the General Assembly amended the statutory language to allow a member's contributions to be paid first to his widow, and if no widow survived, then to his executor or administrator. After the decedent's death, his widow claimed entitlement to the decedent's contributions under the amended statute. The Supreme Court employed a statutory construction analysis to uphold denial of the widow's claim. Finding the amended statute was intended to apply prospectively, the Court noted that the pension fund's obligation to remit the decedent's contribution to his executor or administrator under the prior law induced the decedent to join the pension fund; otherwise he could have simply bequeathed his property as he wished or allowed it to pass under the intestate laws. The Court determined retroactive application of the amended statute would be a clear deviation from the terms expressed in the contract to which the decedent agreed.