Harriet Luckman, 95; Active Volunteer, Generous Donor

Harriet McElroy Luckman, the widow of architect Charles Luckman and a volunteer in a wide variety of Los Angeles organizations, died Monday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 95.

Luckman was founder and president of Achievement Rewards for College Scientists and the Muses of the California Museum of Science and Industry. She was also active in Les Dames de Champagne, the Los Angeles Orphanage Guild, the John Douglas French Alzheimer’s Foundation, the American Women of International Understanding, the League of Children and the Bel-Air Garden Club. She received the YMCA’s Athena Award in 1989 for her volunteerism and community involvement.

Luckman and her husband, who moved to Los Angeles in 1949, contributed the founding gift for the Harriet and Charles Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State L.A. In 1994, the Harriet and Charles Luckman building of the Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic was dedicated to them.

The couple also funded annual outstanding teacher awards at Pepperdine University, UCLA and the University of Illinois.

Luckman’s 1957 powder blue Thunderbird, which she drove around Los Angeles for decades, was donated to the Petersen Automotive Museum, where it is on display.

She is survived by three sons, Charles Jr., James and Stephen; nine grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and one great-great-granddaughter.

Memorial services will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the American Indian College Fund, 21 W. 68th St., Suite 1F, New York, NY 10023; or Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, 1801 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 708, Los Angeles, CA 90067.