DEATH : Iphigene Sulzberger Dies at 97

New York Times heiress Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger, whose spunk and adventurous spirit charmed royalty and enamored presidents, died in her sleep early today. She was 97.

Nancy Finn, assistant to Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Mrs. Sulzberger’s son and publisher of the Times, said Mrs. Sulzberger died of natural causes at her home in Stamford, Conn.

Mrs. Sulzberger’s role as a trustee of the family fortune and as the daughter, wife, mother-in-law and mother of Times publishers brought her power and prominence.

Her father, New York Times Publisher Adolph S. Ochs, appointed her to the newspapers’ board of directors in her 20s. After his death in 1935, she was one of three trustees, along with her husband and then her son, of the Ochs estate, which owns the controlling interest in the Times.

Newspapering was the birthright of Iphigene Bertha Ochs, the granddaughter of Rabbi Isaac M. Wise, founder of Judaism’s Reform movement.

She married Arthur Hays Sulzberger on Nov. 17, 1917, capping their Washington honeymoon at a White House meeting with President Woodrow Wilson. When Ochs died, Sulzberger succeeded him as publisher of the Times.

Her husband retired in 1961. Their son-in-law, Orvil E. Dryfoos, held the publisher’s post until dying in May, 1963. Their son, known as Punch, has been the publisher since then. Their grandson, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr., is now deputy publisher.