The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-07-25
Vanderbilt'S
FOrnnerWife
Missed Joy
Wealthy Society Woman
Said to Have Died Of
Broken Heart.
BY HELEN WORDEN
Times Special Writer

~
IN ing OF Mrs. Graham Fair
Vanderbilt removes one of societys
most picturesque figures.
The clothes she wore, the places
she went, the houses she built and
the parties she gave we're news. She
represented a dazzling period that
is over. Birdie" Vanderbilt knew
the Gold Rush days Of Virginia
City, New, and she knew the Gold
Rush" days Of society, the days
when there was a -Four Hundred.
While she never attempted to
sway the destinies o. society. she
frequently set the pace. Her Christ
mas parties were famous. No Satur-
day night mining camp dance was
ever more fun, no Versailles fete
more gorgeous.
They say the tragic death Of her
son Willie, in an automobile &C
cident, killed her; that she died Of
a broken heart.
The last time I talked with Mrs.
Vanderbilt was on the terrace of
the Seminole Golf Club at Palm
Beach, a few months after her sons
death.
My friends have been very good
to me-" she said. They made me
come here to a cheerful little house
with plenty of lights and brightness.
They never leave me alone"
Careful in Dress
She was talking against the
truth. I felt, for in spite CT her
attempt at cheerfulnesS she was an
unhappy woman.
Her face was lineu, her mouth
dropped and she wore her white
sports things with an indifferent air.
The lack of interest in clothes
would have r-eant nothing in an
ordinary woman. 1t meant a great
deal to Mrs. Vanderbilt, for she
cared about dress.
Her tastes leaned toward the Lii
liam Russell fOndness for much lace,
many ribbons, touches of white
ermine, hats with plumes and or
nate jewelry-the things that were
in fashion when she was a girl.
Her appearance in a box at the
races was always an event. She
queened 1t for the occasion.
But Birdie looked that way be-
fore Willie died" a friend protest.
ed, when some one pointed out her
recent Indifference to clothes. Shes
: losing interest in life"
Dos~oeeo5 Cro,4 VuooItx
To outward appearance Virginia
Fair Vanderbilt had much to live
for. In spite Of the depression she
still possessed unlimited wealth.
She inherited the fortune of her
father, Jim Fair, millionaire Nevada
mine owner. Her town house at 60
Z. 93rd-st was as luxurious as
money could make it. Her country
place at ManhaSset, the former
Louis Sherry estate. boosted, in ad-
dition to a palace of a house, a pri-
vate golf course laid out by the best
professionals in the country.
Celebrated paintings filled the
picture galleries. Corps of servants
oiled the domestic machinery. Ex-
pensive cars crowded the garages.
And she had two lovely daughters.
COnsuelo Vanderbilt Smith and
Muriel Vanderbilt Dodge.
But 1 have never seen Mrs. Van
derbilt in happy mood. She was
a strong-willed woman. Her family
had crossed her will. Perhaps the
divorce which she was forced to get
from w. K. Vanderbilt helped break
1t. Like many Strong-willled persons
she was extremely kind and gener-
Gus, often to the point of rashness,
Resemblance Noted
Virginia Fair Vanderbilt had
charm. She was small. brown-hair-
ed, vivacious and as a young woman,
gay.
She looked very much like the late
Mrs. o. H. P. Belmont, w. K. Van
derbilt'S mother. And, curiously
enough, she resembled her husband
second wife, the present Mrs. w. K.
Vanderbilt.
Her personality was as strong as
say that she lent glamour to it
with her sense of gaiety, novel par
ties, sumptuous homes and exquisite
clothes.
A few years after her divorce
many thought Birdie Vanderbilt
would marry Frank Reddiker. He
was constantly at her house parties,
beauing her around to dinners and
dances and even going so far as to
give suggestions about the running
of her homes.
Perhaps her religion prevented
the marriage. She was a Catholic
At any rate. nothing ever came OF
the romance.
There is no one who can quite
take Mrs. Graham Fair Vanderbilt S
place. Her sense of leadership, her
original ideas and her warm heart
can not be easily replaced.