[Deathwatch] Laurance Rockefellar, billionaire philanthropist, 94

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Billionaire philanthropist Laurance Rockefeller dies at 94
Sunday, July 11, 2004 Posted: 8:43 PM EDT (0043 GMT) 

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/07/11/obit.rockefeller.ap/index.html

NEW YORK (AP) -- Laurance Rockefeller, a conservationist,
philanthropist and leading figure in the field of venture capital, died
in his sleep Sunday morning. He was 94.

The cause of death was pulmonary fibrosis, his spokesman Fraser Seitel
said in a statement.

Rockefeller was No. 377 on this year's Forbes magazine list of 587
billionaires, with $1.5 billion. But he was perhaps best known for his
environmental work: He served under five presidents in several
capacities related to conservation and the outdoors.

He founded the American Conservation Association in 1958 and was head
of Jackson Hole Preserve Inc., a conservation organization that played
a major role in protecting parts of the Grand Tetons in Wyoming and
redwood trees in California.

Rockefeller helped develop national parks in Wyoming, the U.S. Virgin
Islands and Vermont, and chaired the White House Conference on Natural
Beauty.

Rockefeller also was a pivotal developer of the economics field that
became known as venture capital.

In 1938 he helped finance World War I pilot Eddie Rickenbacker's
Eastern Airlines, and he later invested in McDonnell Aircraft Corp.,
Intel Corp. and Apple Computer Inc. He sought to fund ventures that
would strengthen national security, welfare or the economy.

"As his younger brother, I always admired Laurance for his
extraordinary business skills and often followed his lead by joining
him in the field of venture capital, where he was a true pioneer," said
David Rockefeller, the last remaining child of John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Laurance Spelman Rockefeller was born May 26, 1910, in New York, and
was the fourth of six children of Rockefeller Jr. and Abby Aldrich
Rockefeller. He graduated from Princeton University in 1932 and studied
law at Harvard for two years. In 1934, he married Mary French.

He served in the Navy during World War II and became a lieutenant
commander.

Rockefeller served on the board of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center and became the first recipient of the American Cancer Society's
Alfred P. Sloan Memorial Award for his contributions to cancer
research.

Rockefeller is survived by four children, eight grandchildren and 12
great-grandchildren. His wife died in 1997.