* Blanchette Ferry Hooker Rockefeller; Philanthropist

Blanchette Ferry Hooker Rockefeller, 83, a philanthropist and former president of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. She was the widow of John D. Rockefeller III and mother of Sen. John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.). Her husband, eldest son of John D. Rockefeller Jr., was a philanthropist and in many ways the least public of the five grandsons of the oil magnate who founded the family dynasty. He died in 1978. Their wedding on Nov. 11, 1932, in Riverside Church in New York City was a major social event. She was the daughter of a well-to-do and socially prominent family; her father, Elon Huntington Hooker, founded Hooker Chemical Co. The Rockefellers frequently entertained foreign leaders at their Manhattan apartment or their country estate, Fieldwood Farm. She began her association with the museum in 1948 after brother-in-law Nelson Rockefeller challenged her to lead a Junior Council. She later worked as a trustee, member of various committees and finally as president of the museum, and became an art collector. In Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., on Sunday of the complications of Alzheimer’s disease.