Goodbye to a Great Lady
NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York socialite Brooke Astor, a philanthropist whose generous gifts were a cornerstone for cultural institutions and charities across the city, died on Monday at the age of 105.
Astor died of pneumonia at Holly Hill, her estate in Briarcliff Manor, New York, said Kenneth E. Warner, lawyer for her son Anthony Marshall.
Astor was married to Vincent Astor and, when he died, inherited part of a fortune made in fur trading and real estate by John Jacob Astor in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
She donated some $195 million to libraries, museums and charitable organizations. She was also a posed and elegant fixture for decades on the New York social scene.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Astor "a quintessential New Yorker and one of the great philanthropists of our time."
"Tens of thousands of New Yorkers were the beneficiaries of Mrs. Astor's good will and kind nature, many unaware of the origins of the donations," he said in a statement.
Former New York Mayor Abraham Beame once said of her, "She has done more for New York City than any other one person."
Her son Marshall said in a statement that her tombstone would be inscribed with words she had requested: "I had a wonderful life."
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Astor died of pneumonia at Holly Hill, her estate in Briarcliff Manor, New York, said Kenneth E. Warner, lawyer for her son Anthony Marshall.
Astor was married to Vincent Astor and, when he died, inherited part of a fortune made in fur trading and real estate by John Jacob Astor in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
She donated some $195 million to libraries, museums and charitable organizations. She was also a posed and elegant fixture for decades on the New York social scene.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Astor "a quintessential New Yorker and one of the great philanthropists of our time."
"Tens of thousands of New Yorkers were the beneficiaries of Mrs. Astor's good will and kind nature, many unaware of the origins of the donations," he said in a statement.
Former New York Mayor Abraham Beame once said of her, "She has done more for New York City than any other one person."
Her son Marshall said in a statement that her tombstone would be inscribed with words she had requested: "I had a wonderful life."
READ MORE HERE
Labels: Brooke Astor, John Jacob Astor, Nancy Reagan, Titanic
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