Dorothy Kresge, Dime-Store Heir’s Widow, Dies at 87

Dorothy Kresge, philanthropist and widow of dime-store heir Stanley S. Kresge, died Sunday of heart failure in St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. She was 87.

Her husband of 61 years, who died in 1985, gave hundreds of millions of dollars to Detroit-area institutions through the Kresge Foundation, begun by his father, Sebastian S. Kresge, in 1924.

The S.S. Kresge dime-store chain was the forerunner of the present K mart Corp. The Kresges, devout Methodists, were strongly opposed to alcohol and smoking and Mrs. Kresge shocked the Kresge shareholders in 1963 when she stood up at a meeting and denounced Sunday store hours.