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.About John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
/ref> 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. 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.Learning to Give - John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
In 1963, John purchased the Colonnades Hotel in

Palm Beach Shores Palm Beach Shores is a town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,142 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 1,264. Geography The town occupies the southern tip of Sin ...

Singer Island Singer Island is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of Palm Beach County, Florida, in the South Florida metropolitan area. Most of it is in the city of Riviera Beach, but the town of Palm Beach Shores occupies its southern tip. Its latitude of ...

, 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.Lowery, Fred
"Celebrity Days Remembered As Colonnades Hotel Is Razed"
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...

'', February 17, 1990 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.

Death

References

External links

Biography at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Catherine T. 1908 births 1981 deaths American businesspeople in insurance American people of Irish descent Philanthropists from Illinois People from Chicago People from Palm Beach County, Florida 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American philanthropists