New York City Philanthropist Astor Dies

Philanthropist Brooke Astor is escorted by former secretary of state Henry Kissinger from private funeral services in New York for William S. Paley in this Oct. 29, 1990. Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high society fixture who gave away nearly $200 million to support the city's great cultural institutions and a host of humbler projects, died of pneumonia at her suburban estate Monday, Aug. 13, 2007 at 105. (AP Photo/Mike Albans, File) (Mike Albans - AP)

It was a very personal sort of philanthropy.

"People just can't come up here and say, 'We're doing something marvelous, send a check,'" she said. "We say, 'Oh, yes, we'll come and see it.'"

The final year of Astor's life was marred by a nasty family feud over her care, including allegations that she was forced to sleep on a couch that smelled of urine while subsisting on a diet of pureed peas and oatmeal. Court papers said her beloved dogs Boysie and Girlsie were kept locked in a pantry.

The allegations emerged in July 2006 court documents that provided almost daily sensational headlines. In a settlement three months later, her son, Anthony Marshall, was replaced as her legal guardian with Annette de la Renta, wife of the fashion designer Oscar de la Renta.

Marshall's son Philip Marshall, a professor at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, had alleged that his father was looting her estate and allowing her to live in the filthy conditions at her Park Avenue duplex. Anthony Marhall, a former diplomat and Broadway producer who won Tony awards in 2003 and 2004, denied any wrongdoing.

In December, a Manhattan judge ruled that claims "regarding Mrs. Astor's medical and dental care and the other allegations of intentional elder abuse" by Anthony Marshall were not substantiated.

"I have lost my beloved mother, and New York and the world have lost a great lady," Marshall said. "She was one of a kind in every way. Her tombstone will be inscribed with the words she specifically asked for: 'I had a wonderful life.' I am thankful that she did. I will miss her deeply and always."

The Vincent Astor Foundation was created when he died in 1959. Vincent Astor had no children; he left his widow $2 million plus the interest off $60 million and endowed the foundation with an additional $67 million. The foundation gave away approximately $200 million by the time it closed at the end of 1997.

"I grew up feeling that the most important thing in life was to have good manners and to enhance the lives of others," Brooke Astor said in a 1992 interview with The Associated Press.

She decided that since the money was made in New York it should largely be spent there. She also persuaded the trustees to give away principal as well as interest so most of the money would be spent in her lifetime.

"I'm afraid that, to old John Jacob Astor, spending principal would seem like dancing naked in the streets," she acknowledged.

Astor's giving was informed by her knowledge of the city, its institutions and its real needs.