Phoebe Milicent Cooke

Phoebe Hearst Cooke, a former member of the Hearst Corp. board of directors and a Bay Area philanthropist who took special interest in the charitable organizations established by her grandfather William Randolph Hearst, died Sunday night.

Mrs. Cooke died of pneumonia at a hospital in Templeton (San Luis Obispo County). She was 85. Her death came just six months after her twin brother, former Hearst Corp. Chairman George Hearst Jr., died.

Like her brother, Mrs. Cooke served several decades on the Hearst Corp. board of directors, joining in 1962 and retiring in 1998. She was also a leader in the Hearst Foundation and, for much of her adult life, took pride in her contributions to the charitable organization and in taking after her namesake, great-grandmother Phoebe Apperson Hearst, also a philanthropist.

"Phoebe Hearst Cooke brought great energy, commitment and focus to every facet of her life," Frank Bennack Jr., chief executive of Hearst Corp., said in a statement. "She was an extremely capable and dedicated member of the Hearst board of directors for 36 years, as well as a shining leader of her family's philanthropic interests. She was truly giving - of her time, her means and her heart. Her accomplishments were considerable and her loss is deeply felt."

Mrs. Cooke and her brother were born in San Francisco in 1927 to George Hearst Sr. and Blanche Wilbur. They were the first grandchildren of William Randolph Hearst, who had taken over the San Francisco Examiner in 1887 and begun building a global media empire. He died in 1951.

In 2000, Hearst Corp. bought The San Francisco Chronicle and sold the smaller Examiner. It now owns 15 daily newspapers.

In 1963, Mrs. Cooke married a fellow Hearst board member, Amory "Jack" Cooke, who was also vice president and general manager of Hearst Corp.'s Sunical Land & Livestock and San Francisco realties divisions. Amory Cooke died in 2008.
Mrs. Cooke had been married once before, to Philip Tovrea Jr., with whom she had a daughter.

Among Mrs. Cooke's wide and varied philanthropic interests was a dedication to the equestrian community both locally - she and her husband lived much of their married life in Woodside - and at the state and national levels.

She helped found Woodside's National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy, which provides horse-assisted therapy programs for children and adults with special needs. She also was a commissioner of the California Horse Racing Board and, along with Amory Cooke, she was inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum's Hall of Fame.

Mrs. Cooke is survived by her daughter, Phoebe "Misty" Tovrea Lipari, and a grandson, Kristopher Jay Lipari, both of Cambria (San Luis Obispo County).

Services for Mrs. Cooke will be private. A public memorial is being arranged.

Donations on Mrs. Cooke's behalf can go to the American Red Cross, San Luis Obispo Chapter; the Phoebe A. Hearst Preschool Learning Center in San Francisco; or the Mission San Miguel.
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Phoebe Hearst Cooke, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Hearst Corporation and a granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst, died Sunday at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton, Calif., after a battle with pneumonia. She was 85.

Hearst Cooke was elected a member of the Hearst Corporation's Board of Directors on March 15, 1962, and served on the board until 1998.

Hearst Cooke was the aunt of Times Union Publisher and CEO George R. Hearst III.

"Phoebe Hearst Cooke brought great energy, commitment and focus to every facet of her life," said Frank A. Bennack Jr., CEO of the Hearst Corporation. "She was an extremely capable and dedicated member of the Hearst Board of Directors for 36 years, as well as a shining leader of her family's philanthropic interests. She was truly giving—of her time, her mean, and her heart. Her accomplishments were considerable and her loss is deeply felt."

Hearst Cooke's twin brother, George R. Hearst Jr., who served as chairman of the Hearst Corporation and president of The Hearst Foundation Inc., predeceased her in June 2012.

They were born in San Francisco on July 13, 1927, to George R. Hearst Sr. and Blanche Wilbur. As the two oldest grandchildren of the late William Randolph Hearst, the iconic newspaper publisher whose San Francisco Examiner launched a global media and information company, both Hearst Cooke and her brother were deeply involved with both the Hearst Corp. and the charitable Foundations established by their grandfather's will. Hearst Cooke was especially committed to carrying forward the long tradition of family giving led by the great-grandmother she was named for, Phoebe Apperson Hearst, one of California's most celebrated philanthropists in her day.

Hearst Cooke was married to Amory J. "Jack" Cooke, a former member of the Board of Directors of the Hearst Corporation and vice president and general manager of the Corporation's Sunical Land & Livestock and San Francisco Realties divisions. They were married for 45 years before Cooke died in 2008. Phoebe's first marriage was to Philip E. Tovrea Jr. Together they had one daughter.

An avid equestrian all of her life, Hearst Cooke was deeply involved in equestrian causes, competitive horse vaulting and supporting young riders.

In 1997, Hearst Cooke was honored by the Mounted Patrol for her role in founding the National Center for Equine Facilitated Therapy in 1971. Located in Woodside, Calif., the center provides equine-assisted therapy and programs to children and adults with special needs.

She also paid special attention to the restoration and preservation of Hearst Castle near San Simeon, Calif. — the National Historical Landmark that her great-grandparents first established as a family ranch.

Hearst Cooke is survived by her daughter, Phoebe "Misty" Tovrea Lipari, and grandson, Kristopher Jay Lipari.

Private family services were held.