Joan Kroc | |
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| Born | Joan Beverly Mansfield (1928-08-27)August 27, 1928 West St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | October 12, 2003(2003-10-12) (aged 75) Rancho Santa Fe, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | El Camino Memorial Park Sorrento Valley, San Diego, California |
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| Children | 1 |
Joan Beverly Kroc (néeMansfield, previouslySmith; August 27, 1928 – October 12, 2003), also known asJoni,[1] was an Americanphilanthropist and third wife ofMcDonald's CEORay Kroc.
Joan Beverly Mansfield was born on August 27, 1928, inWest St. Paul, Minnesota. Her father, Charles Smart Mansfield,[2] was a store keeper and later a railroad telegraph operator and salesman.[3]
In 1945, Mansfield married Rawland F. "Rollie" Smith,[4][5][6] aNavy veteran who would become aMcDonald's franchisee, eventually owning three stores inRapid City,South Dakota. The couple's only child, a daughter named Linda, was born the following year.[7]
Mansfield metMcDonald's Corp. founderRay Kroc, who was 26 years her senior, while playing the organ at the Criterion Restaurant inSt. Paul, Minnesota in 1957.[8][9] Ray said in his autobiography that he "was stunned by her blonde beauty". They were both married at the time. They met again at a McDonald's conference in 1969 and, within six months, they divorced their spouses and married each other. Following Kroc's death in 1984, she inherited his fortune.[10]
| External videos | |
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 Ray and Joan, 57:59, Lisa Napoli discusses her book onC-SPAN[11] |
In 2002,Kroc Center, a largeSalvation Army community center that she helped fund—to the tune of $87 million—opened to the public. She later bequeathed an additional $1.6billion to open Salvation Army Kroc Centers across the nation, the largest one-time gift ever recorded. Several institutions in the San Diego area are named after her, including the think tankJoan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice[12][13] and the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies- the world's top peace institution- at theUniversity of San Diego, the St. Vincent de Paul Joan Kroc Center for the Homeless (Part of Father Joe's Villages- San Diego's largest organization helping the homeless) in downtown and the Kroc–Copley Animal Shelter in the Morena District. Additionally, Joan established and endowedUniversity of Notre Dame's Joan B.Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.[14] Kroc preferred to give donations anonymously, but recipient organizations often insisted on publicizing her gifts, hoping to attract new donors.[15]
As the Padres owner, Kroc startedMajor League Baseball's first employee-assistance program for players and staff with drug problems.[16]
Kroc was also politically active. In 1985, she spent millions of dollars in support ofnuclear disarmament, which included reprinting the bookMissile Envy byHelen Caldicott, as well as publishing ads in major newspapers calling for disarmament. She anonymously gifted a Paul Conrad sculpture depicting a nuclear mushroom cloud, Chain Reaction, to the city of Santa Monica, where it still sits today. Because of her public no-nukes work,Cal Thomas, a conservative syndicated columnist, called her a "McNut".[15]
Kroc is affectionately known by the citizens ofGrand Forks,North Dakota, andEast Grand Forks,Minnesota, as the "Angel" because of her anonymous $15 million donation to assist the cities after adevastating flood occurred there in 1997. She was revealed as the source of the funds after reporters tracked down ownership of the jet that she used to fly into the area to survey the damage.[17]
After her death in 2003, it was announced that Kroc had left the majority of her estate to the Salvation Army for the purpose of building recreation centers all across the nation. Another of her major donations was $225 million toNational Public Radio (NPR)[18][19] including $5 million to her local public radio station, San Diego'sKPBS.[19]
Kroc died ofbrain cancer on October 12, 2003, inRancho Santa Fe, California, at the age of 75. She was cremated and most of her remains were entombed at theEl Camino Memorial Park inSorrento Valley, San Diego.[20]
Herwill included significant bequests for a number of organizations:
The biographyRay & Joan: The Man Who Made The McDonald's Fortune and The Woman Who Gave it All Away, published by Dutton in 2016, and written by Lisa Napoli, examines the Krocs' relationship.
Kroc is portrayed by actressLinda Cardellini in the 2016 Americanbiographicaldrama filmThe Founder.[23]
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