Ione Harter; San Diego Philanthropist

Ione Harter, 78, San Diego philanthropist whose generous gifts benefited animals, children and theater audiences. Mrs. Harter and her husband, Paul, in the late 1980s pledged $1.75 million in municipal bonds and their $3-million home to the San Diego Zoo to aid its Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species and renovate what became the Paul and Ione Harter Children’s Zoo. In 1990 she adopted a young zoo gorilla that was named “Baby Ione” in her honor. The Harters also gave $1 million to the San Diego Humane Society to create the Paul and Ione Harter Animal Shelter, where they regularly visited the animals. The couple contributed regularly to the Boy Scouts and San Diego Children’s Hospital, sponsored more than 50 children in Third World countries, and once donated $12,000 to the Coronado Performing Arts Foundation to sponsor a production of “Peter and the Wolf” for the children of Coronado. Last year they donated $300,000 to the Lambs Players Theatre in Coronado for the Paul and Ione Harter Stage. On Tuesday in Coronado.