Catherine T. MacArthur
Catherine Terese MacArthur (née Hyland; November 23, 1908 – December 15, 1981) was an American philanthropist. With the estate of her husband, businessman and philanthropist John D. MacArthur, she co-founded the MacArthur Foundation, one of the 10 largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Life. Born Catherine Terese Hyland in 1908, MacArthur was one of nine children of Irish immigrants on Chicago's South Side. Her father owned and operated several retail stores, was active in Democratic politics in Chicago, and held several state and local governmental positions. In 1938 she married John D. MacArthur. It was  MacArthur's second marriage and her first. In 1935, MacArthur purchased Bankers Life and Casualty for $2,500 and used mass marketing techniques to sell insurance by mail. Banker's Life was the basis of John's phenomenal success in real estate and insurance. Official Banker's Life press releases verify that Catherine was intimately involved in the business's success. She appears throughout the records under her maiden name, C.T. Hyland, as corporate secretary, director, or both. Despite their vast wealth, the MacArthurs were known for their frugality. In 1963, when John was already one of the wealthiest men  in the United States, he purchased the Colonnades Hotel in Palm Beach Shores on Singer Island, Florida. Catherine lived with her husband in a modest apartment overlooking the parking lot, while John conducted his business from a corner table in the hotel's coffee shop. When John D. MacArthur died on January 6, 1978, he was worth over $1 billion and reportedly one of the three wealthiest men in the United States. He left ninety-two percent of his estate to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. His will stipulated that the foundation's first board of  directors include Catherine, J. Roderick MacArthur (a son from MacArthur's first marriage), three officers of Bankers Life and Casualty, and radio commentator Paul Harvey. For the remainder of her life, Catherine was a key figure in the Foundation's operations. Death. MacArthur died December 15, 1981 in her Colonnades Hotel apartment.