LAWRENCE — Baby Frank Matos Lopez will undergo life-saving open-heart surgery this week thanks to a medical charity founded by Haverhill native D. Raymond Tye.

Tye, 85, a 1940 graduate of Haverhill High School and former owner of United Liquors, started the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation. The foundation agreed last week to pay for the surgery for the 9-month-old infant, said Terri Carlson, foundation director.

"He is saving the life of this baby," said Louis Farrah, a Lawrence attorney who has worked for weeks to help Baby Frank and his family. "I think the generosity of Mr. Tye and his foundation is just beyond words."

A Boston Children's Hospital administrator said previously that the surgery and 14-day hospital stay would cost $78,000.

Baby Frank, who lives in the Dominican Republic, suffers from a heart condition known as blue baby syndrome, which prevents oxygen from reaching organs and tissues, resulting in a bluish skin tint.

In Lawrence, a canister drive is underway and a fundraiser is in the works to help the boy. Angel Flight, whose Northeast division is based at the Lawrence Municipal Airport, agreed to find a corporate flight to bring the baby here.

The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation got involved when Lewis Gack of Andover, a longtime business associate of Tye's, read last week's Sunday Eagle-Tribune story detailing Baby Frank's plight. Gack brought the story to Carlson's attention.

"This baby is just a perfect example of how the foundation works," Carlson said.

Tye and his wife, Eileen, launched the Braintree-based medical charity five years ago after their son died of cancer. Michael Tye, 52, was a marathon runner when he was stricken with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of the plasma cells.

Over the past five years, the foundation has helped hundreds of people around the world, providing them with the money to receive health care in the Boston medical community, Carlson said.

Baby Frank's aunt, Lillian Marte, who lives on Montgomery Street in Lawrence, broke into tears when she was told about the foundation's gift.

"I can't find the right words to thank the Ray Tye Foundation," said Marte, through an interpreter. "But I feel like I can breathe again and my sister can breathe again."

Frank is the only child of Marte's sister, Mareanelle Marte, and her husband, Francisco Lopez, who live in San Francisco de Marcoris in the eastern part of the Dominican Republic.

Lillian Marte said she will forever regard Tye "as another father to the baby." She said she is forever grateful to Farrah and his staff for their tireless work to help a stranger.

Tye grew up in a triple decker at 18 Fountain St. in Haverhill. A World War II veteran, he spent 57 years running United Liquors, which had a warehouse on Andover Street in Lawrence until two years ago.

His foundation's mission is to provide medical care to financially vulnerable individuals.

"When you save a life, you save the future," reads a quote on the foundation's Web site, www.raytyemedicalaidfoundation.org.

Carlson said she has heard Tye say countless times that "all the money in the world couldn't save his son's life, but money can save lives."

"Mr. Tye is just an angel. He is just an amazing person," she said.

Farrah said family and friends will be responsible for providing transportation for Baby Frank and his family once they arrive in the United States.

The surgery is scheduled for Thursday at Children's Hospital in Boston, he said.