Evening star., 1953-02-16
Mrs. J. c. Raihborne,
Once SociaIite Here,
|0n Wrecked Plane

NILS u. COTuelluS naLnDOE0e,
the former Nancy Huidekoper
of Washington and New Orleans.
and Mrs. Eleonora KurkowSka,
second secretary Of the Polish
Embassy, were aboard the plane
which crashed into the Gulf of
Mexico Saturday.
Mrs. Rathborne, 81, wife Of q
well-known New Orleans busi-
nessman and member Of q So
cially prominent Virginia family.
is the mother Of four children.
Mrs Kurkowska. Of 2153 Cali
fornia street NV. has a 2-year-
old daughter. Marysia.
Also missing, according to the
list Of passengers, was John Nor
ris Legendre and his wife. Mr..
Legendre was the former huS-
band of Miss Nancy Newbold Of
Washington. They were recently
divorced and he has since re-
married.
Mrs. Rathborne was. flying
home after q two-week Carib-
bean cruise aboard the Rath-
borne's yacht. She had left her
husband at Nassau. flown to Mi
ami. and then taken q plane
from Tampa.
Husband Notified at Sea.
Mr.. Rathborne, who had
planned to cruise back to New
Orleans, was notified she was
aboard the Inflated airliner late
last night after planes were sent
out to sea to find him.
His wife was the daughter Of
Mrs. Prescott Foster HuidekopeI
Of 1243 Thirty-fourth street
NV. and the late Mr.. Huide-
koper.
Friends in Washington re.
called the courage and wit which
Mrs. Rathborne maintained dur
ing q narrowing incident at the
New York Worlds Fair in 1899
She and her husband were
trapped 100 feet in the air or
the tilted narrow seat Of a me.
chanical parachute. The appa-
ratus used to raise and drop the
parachutes failed when the two
were at the top Of a tall ,stee
tower.
Went AlOft Again Next Day.
AS rescuers worked to save
them during the night. Mrs
Rathborne alternately joked anC
scolded rescue workers. She re.
demonstrated her courage by re.
turning to the fair the next day
with her husband and goinl
aloft again.
She was married at Millwood
Va. home Of her maternal grand.
mother. the late Mrs. Hugh M
Nelson. Her husband then was
one Of the country's best-known
polo players. He was from old
Westbury. Long Island.
Mrs. Rathborne was born on
an estate the family also owned
at Ruxton. Md, and made her
debut in Baltimore.
She was active in Republican
politics and backed President
Eisenhower as a member Of the
Louisiana delegation to the Re-
publican National Convention.
/ Husband on Newspaper Board.
Mr.. Rathborne is president o1
the Rathborne Land and Lumber
Co. and a member Of the Board
Of Directors Of the Times.
Picayune Publishing Co., pub.
fishers Of the morning Times
Picayune and the New Orlean.
States.
Her sisters are Mrs. Page
Huidekoper' Dougherty Of Bethel
Conn. and Mrs. Hugh Judgl
Jewett Of Baltimore. Her brother
Prescott F. Huidekoper, lives a
Milton, Mass.
Mrs. Rathborne also was tn
great-niece Of Mrs. Lowell Deck
er Of the Thirty-fourth stree
address.
Her children are j. Cornelius
Rathborne, jr., 16. who was fly
ing home from st. Paul's Schoo
at Concord, N. H.. and Prescott
Huidekoper. IL: Nancy Winship
10. and Tina Nelson Rath
borne 3
Taught in Polish Underground.
Nine. Kurkowska, 80, was as
signed to the Polish Embassy il
Washington in September, 1851
She was appointed second secre
tary in charge of cultural af
fairs last August.
A native of Warsaw, Nine
Kurkowska graduated in 1884,
from the University Of Warsaw
where she received q master o.
arts degree. In that same veal
she was married to Joseph Kur.
kowski. During the Nazi occu.
patton Of Poland in World Wal
II she taught in an underground
Polish school. according to thu
EmbaSSy'S press Office here,
About 10 days ago. the Office
said, Nine. Kurkowska had be.
gun q brief vacation In Florida