Abby Rockefeller Mauzé


Abigail Aldrich Rockefeller was an American philanthropist and grand-daughter of Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller.

Family background

Abigail was the first child and only daughter of philanthropists John Davison Rockefeller Jr. and Abigail Greene "Abby" Aldrich. She was commonly referred to as "Babs" to avoid confusion with her mother. She attended both the Chapin School and the Brearley School in New York City.

Philanthropy

She and her five brothers carried on the Rockefeller family tradition of philanthropy stemming back to their paternal grandparents, Standard Oil co-founder John Davison Rockefeller Sr. and schoolteacher Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman.
Unlike her famous brothers, she always remained out of the public eye. Among the many positions she held were: membership of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, set up by her and her brothers in 1940; advisory member of the Board of Trustees of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, ; and honorary trustee of the Rockefeller Family Fund, founded by various family members in 1967.
She was also a benefactor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the YWCA, New York Hospital, the Museum of Modern Art ; the New York Zoological Society ; and the Asia Society, which was established by another brother, John D. Rockefeller III.
In 1968 she created the Greenacre Foundation, of which she was president, in order to maintain and operate parks in New York State for the benefit of the public. She also made cash and stock contributions to East Woods School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York Hospital, the Population Council, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and the American Red Cross.

Personal life

Rockefeller married three times and had two children. Her first marriage took place on May 14, 1925, to David M. Milton, a lawyer and banker. Before their divorce in 1943, they had two daughters:
In 1946, she began her second marriage, to Dr. Irving H. Pardee, a neurologist. After his death in 1949, she married Jean Mauzé, a banker, on April 23, 1953. They remained married until his death in January 1974.
Rockefeller owned property in Bermuda, the Roman Corporation at One Beekman Place in New York City, and at the Pocantico family estate Kykuit in Westchester County, New York. She died on May 27, 1976, at her apartment in New York City.