According to NPR, USA Today and many other networks, Ruth Lilly died at age 94 on Wednesday
Lilly, the last surviving great-grandchild and heiress of Eli Lilly, was a noted philanthropist.
She gave away an estimated $800 million, which was her inheritance, giving away to many causes including colleges, hospitals, the National Easter Seals Society and a $100 million donation to the Chicago poetry association in 2002.
Her donation currently maintains daily radio poetry readings, a poetry professorship at Indiana University and prestigious annual awards.
Lilly’s inheritance came from her family’s pharmaceutical business, which began in 1876, Eli Lilly & Co.
Lilly, who always lived in extreme wealth, battled with depression for most of her life.
After spending years in a mental hospital and divorced her husband, her brother J.K. Lilly III put her fortune under guardianship.
In 1988 Prozac, the company’s most successful drug, came on the market and according to Lilly’s physician helped her with the depression.
Lilly is survived by five nieces and nephews, 14 great nieces and nephews and 10 great-great nieces and nephews.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
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