Joan Kroc
Joan Kroc | |
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Born | Joan Beverly Mansfield August 27, 1928 Rancho Santa Fe, California, U.S. |
Resting place | El Camino Memorial Park Sorrento Valley, San Diego, California |
Political party | Democratic[1] |
Spouses | |
Children | 1 |
Joan Beverly Kroc (
Early life
Joan Beverly Mansfield was born on August 27, 1928, in West St. Paul, Minnesota. Her father, Charles Smart Mansfield,[3] was a store keeper and later a railroad telegraph operator and salesman.[4]
Marriage and family
In 1945, Mansfield married Rawland F. "Rollie" Smith,[5][6][7] a Navy veteran who would become a McDonald's franchisee, eventually owning three stores in Rapid City, South Dakota. The couple's only child, a daughter named Linda, was born the following year.[8]
Mansfield met
Philanthropy
External videos | |
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Ray and Joan, 57:59, Lisa Napoli discusses her book on C-SPAN[12] |
In 2002,
As the Padres owner, Kroc started Major League Baseball's first employee-assistance program for players and staff with drug problems.[15]
Kroc was also politically active. In 1985, she spent millions of dollars in support of nuclear disarmament, which included reprinting the book Missile Envy by Helen Caldicott, as well as publishing ads in major newspapers calling for disarmament. She anonymously gifted a Paul Conrad sculpture depicting a nuclear mushroom cloud, Chain Reaction, to the city of Santa Monica, where it still sits today. Because of her public no-nukes work, Cal Thomas, a conservative syndicated columnist, called her a "McNut".[14]
Kroc is affectionately known by the citizens of Grand Forks, North Dakota, and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, as the "Angel" because of her anonymous $15 million donation to assist the cities after a devastating flood occurred there in 1997. She was revealed as the source of the funds after reporters tracked down ownership of the jet that she used to fly into the area to survey the damage.[16]
After her death in 2003, it was announced that Kroc had left the majority of her estate to the Salvation Army for the purpose of building recreation centers all across the nation. Another of her major donations was $225 million to
Death and legacy
Kroc died of brain cancer on October 12, 2003, at Rancho Santa Fe, California, at the age of 75. She was cremated and most of her remains were entombed at the El Camino Memorial Park in Sorrento Valley, San Diego.[19]
Her
- $1.5 billion (equivalent to $3 billion in 2023) for the Salvation Army[20]
- $200 million (equivalent to $374 million in 2023) for National Public Radio[21]
- $50 million (equivalent to $93 million in 2023) for the University of San Diego's Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice[20]
- $50 million (equivalent to $93 million in 2023) for the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies[20]
- $20 million (equivalent to $37 million in 2023) for the San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care, which was in addition to the $18.5 million she donated to build the institution during her life.[20]
In popular culture
The biography Ray & Joan: The Man Who Made The McDonald's Fortune and The Woman Who Gave it All Away, published by Dutton in 2016 and written by Lisa Napoli, examines the Krocs' relationship.
Kroc is portrayed by actress Linda Cardellini in the 2016 American biographical drama film The Founder.[22]
References
- ^ "'Ray And Joan' Chronicles Complex Life Of Kroc's Philanthropic Wife". NPR.org. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ISBN 0-312-92987-0. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ HARRIS, SCOTT (October 13, 1985). "Dismayed by Nuclear Arms Race : McDonald's Fortune Fuels Joan Kroc's Peace Effort". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 7, 2018. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ "Joan and Ray Kroc's St. Paul love story – and why she gave away her McDonald's fortune". twincities.com. January 7, 2017. Archived from the original on November 21, 2017. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ISBN 978-1-101-98495-6.
- ISBN 978-1-101-98496-3. Archivedfrom the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "The Founder (2017)". History vs. Hollywood. 2016. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ John A. Drobnicki, "Kroc, Joan B.," in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Vol. VII: 2003–2005 (Scribner's, 2007), p. 316.
- ^ "McDonald's". St Louis Park Historical Society. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ Cramer, John D. (September 14, 1990). "Family Friend Arrested on Suspicion of Kidnaping Daughter of McDonald's Exec". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 29, 2015. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ Van Kley, Brian. "Kroc, Joan". Learning to Give. Archived from the original on April 16, 2017. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
- ^ "Ray and Joan". C-SPAN. November 20, 2016. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
- ^ "The Peace Racket". City Journal. Archived from the original on September 13, 2007. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
- ^ a b John A. Drobnicki, "Kroc, Joan B.," in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Vol. VII: 2003–2005 (Scribner's, 2007), p. 317.
- ISBN 978-1-62585-726-2.
- ^ "Joan B. Kroc, North Dakota's "angel", dies at 75". Associated Press. October 12, 2003. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
- ^ Janssen, Mike (May 24, 2004). "Kroc gift lets NPR expand news, lower fees". Current. Archived from the original on March 22, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
- ^ a b "NPR Receives a Record Bequest of More Than $200 Million". NPR. November 6, 2003. Archived from the original on December 2, 2003. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
- ^ Potter, Matt (April 22, 2004). "Cremains of the day". San Diego Reader. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
- ^ a b c d Tony Perry (January 31, 2004). "Philanthropy That Was Deeply Personal". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2011.
- ^ John Ydstie (November 6, 2003). "Kroc Makes $200 Million Bequest to NPR". Retrieved October 27, 2023.
- ^ Palmeri, Christopher (January 6, 2017). "Sex, Lies, and Hamburgers: McDonald's and the Krocs". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
External links
- Napoli, Lisa (2016). "Ray & Joan" – via AWD.
- Williams, Jack (October 13, 2003). "Gracious Philanthropist leaves a global legacy". San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the originalon October 21, 2005 – via The Joan B. Kroc Institute.
- Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice. University of San Diego
- The Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. University of Notre Dame
- Potter, Matt (May 31, 2001). "Married Rich". San Diego Reader.