1. Margaretta Large "Happy" Rockefeller was a philanthropist who, as the wife of the 41st vice president of the United States, Nelson Rockefeller, served as second lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977.
26 Facts About Happy Rockefeller
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Happy Rockefeller was previously the first lady of New York from 1963 to 1973, during her husband's last three terms in office.
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Happy Rockefeller was president of the board of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center north of Albany, New York, among other philanthropic projects.
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Happy Rockefeller's parents were Margaretta Large Harrison and William Wonderly Fitler Jr.
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Happy Rockefeller graduated from the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania in 1944.
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In 1958, Happy signed up to serve as a volunteer on Nelson Rockefeller's gubernatorial campaign.
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Happy Rockefeller married New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller on May 4,1963, at the home of Laurance S Rockefeller in Pocantico Hills, New York.
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Happy Rockefeller was eighteen years her senior and had divorced his first wife, Mary Todhunter Clark, on March 16,1962.
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Happy and Nelson Rockefeller went on to have two sons together: Nelson Rockefeller Jr.
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Ellen, the wife of Wallace Harrison, the architect and close friend of Nelson Happy Rockefeller, claimed that Malinda's parentage was an open secret among Happy Rockefeller associates.
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Nelson Happy Rockefeller first campaigned for president in 1960, during which time he remained governor of New York, and Mary Happy Rockefeller remained first lady of New York.
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Happy Rockefeller is not interested in excitement for excitement's sake.
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Happy Rockefeller lost the campaign, with Richard Nixon taking the White House.
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Happy Rockefeller's husband was reelected governor of New York two more times after they married.
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Happy Rockefeller stepped down as governor of New York in December 1973, three years into his fourth term.
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Happy Rockefeller became the Second Lady of the United States when her husband became the vice president of Gerald Ford.
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Happy Rockefeller's husband died in January 1979, two years after having left the vice presidency.
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Happy Rockefeller continued to entertain at 812 Fifth Avenue and at the Rockefeller estate, the Japanese House.
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In 1982, Happy Rockefeller hosted an event at her Fifth Avenue apartment for Henry Kissinger, celebrating the publication of the second volume of his memoirs.
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At the time, Happy Rockefeller said she and Kissinger had been friends since around 1962.
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Happy Rockefeller became president of the board of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center at north Albany, New York.
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Happy Rockefeller supported the Philadelphia Orchestra's annual visits to China and the Franklin D Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park in New York City, the Central Park Conservancy, and Historic Hudson Valley.
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Happy Rockefeller was a breast cancer survivor, having undergone a double mastectomy in 1974, two weeks after Betty Ford, then First Lady of the United States, underwent a single mastectomy.
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Happy Rockefeller died on May 19,2015, at the age of 88, following a short illness.
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Happy Rockefeller died at her home in Tarrytown, New York, in her sleep.
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However, while much of their collection of items was donated to museums, Happy Rockefeller held on to pieces such as art objects and jewelry.