In Thursday’s (3/12) Philadelphia Inquirer, Karen Heller reports, “Leonore Annenberg, 91, U.S. chief of protocol under President Reagan, widow of former publisher and U.S. Ambassador to Britain Walter H. Annenberg, and steward of the couple’s massive philanthropy, died today at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, Calif. … Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a spokesman for the family, said Mrs. Annenberg died of natural causes. Mrs. Annenberg, who became an equal partner in the family’s charitable legacy over the course of her long marriage, assumed control of the Annenberg Foundation in Radnor upon the death of her husband in October 2002. Her family’s connection to Philadelphia is legend. Her husband was owner and publisher of the Inquirer and Daily News until 1969 as well as TV Guide and other publications. The Annenberg name is attached to public rooms, buildings and institutions around the city, including the Art Museum and the University of Pennsylvania. In June 2007, Mrs. Annenberg accepted the Philadelphia Award, the city’s highest civic honor, in a ceremony at the Academy of Music, making the Annenbergs the first regional couple so honored in separate years. Her husband received the award in 1993. Forbes magazine this week estimated her personal fortune at $1.7 billion.”
Posted March 12, 2009
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