Renee Segerstrom; Patron of O.C. Performing Arts Center

Renee Mary Segerstrom, an important patron of the arts in Orange County who was also the wife of pioneer businessman Henry T. Segerstrom, died Wednesday in Newport Beach. She was 72.

A family statement said that her passing was sudden at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, and was the result of complications of an extended illness, which was not disclosed.

“She was a rare partner in life, full of love, joy and spirit,” Segerstrom, her husband of nearly 20 years, said in the statement.

The Segerstroms donated the land and at least $6 million for construction of the $73.3-million Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa--at the time the largest private donation ever made to a performing arts center in the nation.

Renee Segerstrom was an organizer and founder of the Angels of the Arts, the exclusive women’s support group of the Performing Arts Center. In the style of Dorothy Buffum Chandler, Los Angeles’ civic leader in the arts, Segerstrom was known for pressing patrons into writing checks to support art projects favored by the family.

“In a very great sense, the turning point for the arts in Orange County was the construction of the Performing Arts Center,” said Peter Keller, the president of the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, where Renee Segerstrom also served on the board for seven years.

Born in Lake Forest, Ill., Renee Segerstrom had been a resident of Orange County for 25 years, living in Newport Beach.

She took an avid role in developing the Segerstrom family’s South Coast Plaza, helping draw some of the best-known stores and restaurants to the retail powerhouse and, for a time, directly supervising a Yves St. Laurent boutique.

Segerstrom was an accomplished oil painter, and had a formidable collection of modern art. Her keen appreciation of art resulted in the long-term loan of many pieces from the J. Paul Getty Museum to Segerstrom Hall.

She is survived by her husband, her two children from a previous marriage, Michael and Mikette, and two grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday at Waverly Church in Santa Ana. Services are at 3 p.m. Monday, also at Waverly Church. She will be interred at Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana.

* DON KLOSTERMAN DIES

The former Loyola quarterback and Los Angeles Ram general manager was 70. C1