The Shy Philanthropist

John Davison Rockefeller 3rd, 1906-1978

On one of his trips to Washington to call on President Lyndon Johnson, John D. Rockefeller 3rd flew tourist class and did not ask to be met by a limousine. But it was raining at the airport and no cabs were in sight. So Rockefeller rented the only vehicle available and rode to the White House as the sole passenger of a sightseeing bus. Not recognizing him, a White House official asked for his name. "John Rockefeller," he replied softly, not bothering to use his distinctive middle initial. Only after several more questions did the official realize that the tall, gaunt man before him was the senior brother of one of the nation's most powerful families.

The shyest and most unpretentious of the five grandsons-of the magnate who founded Standard Oil and created one of America's largest fortunes, John Davison Rockefeller 3rd always tried to stay in the background. While his brothers pursued more public careers, he devoted himself full time to the family's philanthropies, which annually donate millions to promote social welfare, health care, the arts and education around the world.

Although he shared in the family wealth, estimated at $1.5 billion, he spurned most of its superficial trappings. "He held out for a simple, sensible kind of life," said Blanchette, his wife of 45 years. Five days a week, he walked or took the crosstown bus from his apartment to his office in Manhattan; on weekends at his country estate twelve miles north of the city, he relaxed by trimming the rose bushes or chopping firewood.

Last week, after spending the day on the estate, he got a lift to the local train station with his secretary in her 1965 Mustang. As they rounded a curve, they collided head-on with a car driven by a 16-year-old boy. Rockefeller, 72, and the boy were killed instantly; the secretary and a woman in a third car were injured. The accident occurred only a mile from the 3,200-acre family estate in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., that was the childhood home of John and his brothers.

As the first-born son, John especially felt the burden of his grandfather's admonition that wealth is "a gift of God to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind." After graduating from Princeton in 1929, he dutifully went to work at his father's office. "My father had the idea that his sons would follow the same pattern he had," he once explained. The son eventually became a trustee of the Rockefeller Foundation and of Rockefeller Center, the family's huge real estate complex in Manhattan. He also oversaw the family's $50 million restoration of colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. At one time, he was a trustee or director of some 30 educational and charitable organizations, most of them heavily financed by the Rockefellers.

In 1951, in what Rockefeller called "a major step outside the family orbit," he se'rved as a cultural consultant to John Foster Dulles during negotiations in Tokyo on the peace treaty between the

U.S. and Japan. That experience, and his subsequent travels through Asia, convinced Rockefeller that population growth had to be limited if underdeveloped countries were ever to achieve political stability. When the Rockefeller Foundation board rejected this idea as too radical, he used his own funds to set up the Population Council, which conducts research in family planning. At a dinner honoring him and his four brothers, he once said: "If my parents had been exposed to today's ideas of family planning, my brothers Win and David might not have made it." Typically, before delivering that line, he had spent a day agonizing over whether it was in good taste.

The Dulles mission inspired Rockefeller's deep interest in Asia as well. He revitalized the moribund

Japan Society and established the Asia Society, the International House of Japan and the India International Center-organizations all devoted to fostering cultural and educational exchanges between East and West. As mementos of his trips to Asia, Rockefeller began a collection of Asian art, worth an estimated $15 million. Said his artistic adviser, Sherman Lee, director of the Cleveland Museum of Art: "He was very moved by certain images, especially the Buddhas-the serene, contemplative figures." Rockefeller bequeathed his art to the Asia Society.

Rockefeller's biggest cultural legacy, however, is New York City's Lincoln Center. Originally promising only to serve on an exploratory committee for a new music hall, he became increasingly involved in the project. Made chairman in 1960, he spent nearly 13 years overseeing negotiations with artists, architects and government officials. When the cost of the complex rose from the original estimate of $75 million to $185 million, he covered the deficit through appeals for funds and a personal gift of $10 million.

At last week's memorial service in Manhattan's Riverside Church, the eulogy was delivered by Rockefeller's only son Jay, who is Governor of West Virginia.' Said he: "He endures in what he stood for, in what he did, in the inspiration and guidance he has given us. Let me say to you, my father, that you helped shape a country and a world in your own quiet way. You have set a standard for our family and for each of us as individuals. Let me say to you that we are strong and we are ready to carry that standard forward; that we know and accept our responsibility. Rest in peace. You have blessed and touched this world in good ways that will last forever." --

-The others: former Vice President Nelson, 70; Conservationist Laurance, 68; Banker David, 63; and former Governor of Arkansas Winthrop, who died in 1973.

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