Philanthropist Joan Kroc, donor to Catholic causes, dies at 75

Published: 2003-10-14

SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- Joan B. Kroc, widow of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc who donated millions to Catholic universities and other charitable causes, died Oct. 12 in the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe at the age of 75. Private funeral services were planned for Kroc, who was diagnosed several months ago with glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer. Holy Cross Father Edward A. Malloy, president of the University of Notre Dame, called Kroc "one of the major benefactors of the university, even though she had no direct connection to Notre Dame." In the 1980s, she made two gifts of $6 million each to establish the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame and to build the Hesburgh Center for International Studies, which houses the Kroc institute and the Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies. More recently she gave $5 million to create an "international scholarship fund for peace and justice" honoring Holy Cross Father Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the university.

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