Philanthropist, “First Lady of the Giants” Joan Tisch dies at age 90
Joan H. Tisch, billionaire philanthropist and widow of former New York Giants co-owner Preston “Bob” Tisch, died Thursday at the age of 90.
The Giants announced Joan Tisch’s death after a brief illness but didn’t provide a cause of death.
“Joan Tisch was a great lady who led an extraordinary life that touched so many people,” Giants co-owner, president, chief executive officer John Mara said. “She was an outstanding role model for her wonderful family and for all of us who knew her. We will miss her dearly.”
Joan Hyman Tisch was a native New Yorker, born in Manhattan July 14, 1927. She graduated from the University of Michigan in 1948 with a degree in English. She married Bob Tisch, who was also a University of Michigan graduate, the same year.
Forbes magazine estimated Joan Tisch’s worth at $4 billion at the time of her death. She inherited her fortune after her husband’s death on Nov. 15, 2005, three weeks after the death of Giants co-owner Wellington Mara. Bob and Joan Tisch were married for 57 years at the time of Bob Tisch’s death.
Bob Tisch and his brother Laurence gained control of the Loews Corporation in 1960. Bob Tisch purchased a 50 percent stake in the Giants for $75 million from Wellington Mara in 1991. From the time the Tisches joined the Maras as owners of the Giants, Joan Tisch and Ann Mara (Wellington Mara’s wife) were known as the First Ladies of the Giants. Ann Mara died Feb. 1, 2015 at age 85.
Today, the Giants are worth somewhere around $2.8 billion, making Joan Tisch’s stake in the team worth $1.4 billion. She was also the largest individual shareholder of the Loews Corporation. Joan Tisch ranked 172nd on Forbes’ 2017 list of the 400 richest Americans. She was the 27th wealthiest woman on the list.
Joan Tisch was a noted anti-AIDS advocate. In 1997, she funded renovation of the Tisch Building so that the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (a non-profit, volunteer supported, community based organization whose mission statement is to “end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of those affected) could move in.
In 2011, she donated an undisclosed amount of money to create the Joan H. Tisch Center For Women’s Health at New York University, one of several entities on the NYU campus named after the Tisch family. Bob and Laurence Tisch donated $7.5 million to NYU’s School of the Arts that is now known as the Tisch School of the Arts.
She also served as a Trustee of the Museum of Modern Art and was on the Board of Directors of Citymeals-on-Wheels. Bob and Joan Tisch were responsible for the creation of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical School. She was also co-president and director of the Tisch Foundation, Inc.
The Giants will observe a moment of silence for Joan Tisch before Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles at MetLife Stadium and will wear a decal with her initials (JHT) on their helmets. After Sunday’s game, they will wear a jersey patch with her initials for the remainder of the season in her memory.
Joan Tisch is survived by three children: Steve (Giants chairman and executive vice president), Jonathan (Giants treasurer), and Laurie (member of the Giants board of directors), 10 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
– Curtis Rawls is a Managing Editor for cover32 and covers the NFL and New York Giants. Please like and follow on Facebook and Twitter. Curtis can be followed on Twitter @CuRawls203.
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