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Hastings Center News

Remembering Patricia Davis Klingenstein

Published

The Hastings Center staff and board of directors are saddened by the passing of Patricia Klingenstein, a former board member and longtime supporter. She died peacefully on February 11 in Greenwich, Ct.

Klingenstein served on The Hastings Center’s board from 2008 to 2015. She was a trustee of Klingenstein Philanthropies, comprised of three foundations that together seek to improve lives by advancing research and training in neuroscience, children’s health, medicine, and education. The Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Family Foundation and the John and Patricia Klingenstein Fund support The Hastings Center’s Callahan Public Programs, a fund established in honor of Hastings co-founder Daniel Callahan. The fund underwrites activities for journalists, an annual Callahan event featuring a prominent speaker on a timely issue, and other programs to inform and engage the public.

“One of the great pleasures of the early years of my presidency was getting to know Pat Klingenstein,” said Hastings Center President Mildred Solomon. “She was a person of enormous insight and great personal warmth, and she had a deep and abiding commitment to community service. Her leadership and her family’s leadership have been highly impactful, both here at Hastings and for the many other institutions they have helped to build. They are models of civic engagement.”

In partnership with her late husband, John, she helped envision and support the establishment of the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University Teacher’s College in 1977. Committed to the preservation of literature and history, she was the longest-serving trustee of the New York Historical Society. She also served as a trustee of the New York Public library for many years.

Klingenstein was born on December 3, 1929. She is survived by Tom Klingenstein, Nancy Klingenstein Simpkins, Andy Klingenstein, and Sally Klingenstein Martell; 10 grandchildren; and 6 great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The New York Historical Society or Mercy Hospital in Portland, Maine.