John R. Drexel III

John Rozet Drexel III (October 6, 1919 – April 13, 2007) was an American sportsman and clubman.

Early life

Drexel was born in Manhattan on October 6, 1919.[1] He was the only child of John Rozet Drexel Jr. (1890–1936),[2] and, his first wife, Elizabeth Hough (née Thompson) Drexel (1896–1943), who married in 1918 and divorced in 1924.[3][4] Shortly after his parents' divorce, his father married and he married Jane Barbour, a daughter of John Robert Taliaferro Barbour and a descendant of President Zachary Taylor, in 1925.[5] From his father's second marriage, he had two half-siblings, David Anthony Drexel[6] (who married Joan Gripenberg, a daughter of G. A. Gripenberg, the Finnish Minister to London, Sweden, and the United Nations),[7] and Jane Barbour Drexel[8] (who married Harry Marshall Vale Jr.,[9][10] and John Porteous II).[11]

His maternal grandparents were James Beaton Thompson. His paternal grandparents were Alice Gordon (née Troth) Drexel and John R. Drexel, the eldest surviving son of financier Anthony Joseph Drexel (founder of Drexel, Morgan & Co with John Pierpont Morgan).[12][13] His aunt, Alice Gordon Drexel, was a debutante who eloped Captain William Barrett, of the Army Air Service,[14][15][16] after which his grandparents relocated to Paris. His uncle, Gordon Preston Drexel,[17] never married and spent "most of his time traveling."[18]

Drexel spent much of his childhood in Neuilly, France, where his grandmother lived, and was educated at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts before attending Harvard University, graduated in 1942.[1]

Career

Throughout most of his life, Drexel managed his family's finances and directed its philanthropic endeavors, focusing on local hospitals and animal shelters.[1]

Club and society life

In New York City, he was a member of the New York Yacht Club, the Knickerbocker Club, Union Club and the River Club. He served on the board of the Good Samaritan Hospital in Palm Beach and on the boards of many clubs, including Spouting Rock Beach Association, Clambake Club and the Reading Room (all in Newport); the Bath and Tennis Club and Everglades Club (both in Palm Beach); and the Jupiter Island Club in Hobe Sound.[19]

Personal life

After first meeting at Tuxedo Park,[20] Drexel was married to the Hon. Mildred Sophia Noreen Stonor (1922–2012) at St. James Protestant Episcopal Church in New York on January 11, 1941.[21] the youngest daughter of Mildred Constance Sherman (a daughter of William Watts Sherman) and Ralph Stonor, 5th Baron Camoys, of Stonor Park.[22] Together, they were the parents of:[1][23]

  • Pamela Noreen Drexel (b. 1943), who married stockbroker Bradford Hastings Walker, a stepson of James A. Burden III, in 1966.[24]
  • John Rozet "Nick" Drexel IV (b. 1945), who married Pamela Braga, a daughter of sugar merchant B. Rionda Braga, in 1969.[25][26] After their 1976 divorce, she married J. Carter Brown and he married Mary Jacqueline "Jackie" Astor, a daughter of John Jacob Astor VI and, his second wife, Gertrude Gretsch,[27] in 1984.[28]
  • Noreen Elizabeth Mildred Drexel (b. 1961), who married lawyer William John O'Farrell in 1990.[29]

The Drexels lived in New York City, Palm Beach, and Newport, Rhode Island. The Duke of Windsor and his wife, Wallis, Duchess of Windsor, were frequent guests at the Drexels' homes.[1] Upon the death of his mother-in-law, Lady Camoys, in 1943, they inherited the Stonor's Newport residence, Stonor Lodge,[30] which burnt down in 2016.[31] His wife helped restore Cardines Field in Newport.[32] In 1999, she received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Salve Regina in 1999.[33]

Drexel died of heart-failure at his home in Newport on April 13, 2007.[1] His widow died in Newport on November 6, 2012, after suffering a stroke.[34]

Descendants

Through his son Nick, he was a grandfather of Nicholas Astor Drexel (b. 1987),[23] whose godparents included John Astor, 3rd Baron Astor of Hever and Lady Hever (the former Fiona Diana Lennox-Harvey).[35]

References

Notes

      Sources

      1. Hevesi, Dennis (22 April 2007). "John R. Drexel III, Socialite and Scion of a Banking Family, Dies at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      2. Times, Special to the New York (17 March 1936). "JOHN R. DREXEL JR. DIES AT AGE OF 44; Member of Family Prominent in New York, Newport and Philadelphia Society. ONCE A NOTED HORSEMAN III for Last Year at Beacon, N. Y. --Funeral Services Will Be Held in Philadelphia". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      3. "J R. DREXEL JR, TO WED BUSINESS GIRL; Just Divorced by Former Elizabeth Thompson in Reno, Ha Willi Wed Miss Jane Barbour". The New York Times. 14 December 1924. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      4. "Mrs. John R. Drexel Jr., Granted Divorce at Reno". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 1 January 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      5. "MISS SCHENCK WEDS FENTON B. TURCK JR.; Ceremony in the Church of the Incarnation, With the Reception at Sherry's. DREXEL-BARBOUR NUPTIALS Miss Ida A. Rupertl Marries Charles R. Marshall, Mrs. Alice C. Hemdon, Dixon Boardman.'". The New York Times. 18 January 1925. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      6. "David Drexel". The Charlotte Observer. 3 December 2003. p. 24. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      7. "Miss Joan Gripenberg Becomes the Bride Of David Anthony Drexel In Stockholm". The New York Times. 28 July 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      8. "Jane Vale Drexel Porteous". Palm Beach Daily News. 3 December 2008. p. 2. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      9. "H.M. VALE JR. FIANCE OF JANE B. DREXEL; Air Force Veteran, Princeton Alumnus, Engaged to Former Red Cross Assistant". The New York Times. 9 July 1948. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      10. TIMES, Special to THE NEW YORK (18 August 1948). "NUPTIALS IN PARIS FOR JANE DREXEL; Member of Noted Family the Bride of Harry Marshall Vale Jr. of Princeton". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      11. Social Register, Summer. Social Register Association. 1997. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      12. Rottenberg 2001
      13. The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. James T. White. 1921. p. 273. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      14. Times, Special to The New York (16 July 1911). "MISS DREXEL A DEBUTANTE.; Presented by Her Mother, Mrs. John R. Drexel, at Newport Garden Party". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      15. "MISS DREXEL GIVES WEDDING SURPRISE; Only Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Drexel Marries Capt. Wm. Barrett, U.S.A. NEW ROCHELLE CEREMONY Miss Katharine S. Haven Weds Johnston L. Redmond--Nuptial of Ensign McCloud and Miss Cawley. Miss Haven Weds J.L. Redmond. McCloud-Cowley. Gilbert Gabriel Weds Miss Vorhaus. Wed to Major Richmond Stephens". The New York Times. 6 June 1919. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      16. Ogden, Charles Burr (1898). The Quaker Ogdens in America: David Ogden of Ye Goode Ship "Welcome" and His Descendants 1682-1897. J.B. Lippincott. p. 209. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      17. "Kusinitz Will Is Probated". Newport Mercury. 13 November 1964. p. 6. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      18. "JOHN DREXEL, 72, DIES IN PARIS HOME; Retired Philadelphia Banker Suffered Stroke When Brother, Anthony, Died". The New York Times. 19 May 1935. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      19. Donnelly, Shannon (17 April 2007). "Red Cross loses 'family' member". Palm Beach Daily News. pp. A001. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      20. Curtis, Charlotte (15 January 1966). "John Drexels 3d Celebrate Silver Wedding; 350 Attend Party at the Sheraton-East for Anniversary". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      21. "Noreen Stonor Wed in St. James; Younger Daughter of Lord and Lady Camoys Bride of John R. Drexel 3d Here Hon. Mildred Noreen Stonor Becomes Bride Of John R. Drexel 3d in St. James Church". The New York Times. 12 January 1941. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      22. Ferretti, Fred (12 August 1985). "NEWPORT: BREAKERS BALL LIGHTS UP A NIGHT". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      23. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 660.
      24. "Pamela Noreen Drexel Married Here; Becomes the Bride of Bradford Hastings Walker, Broker". The New York Times. 22 November 1966. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      25. "Pamela Braga Engaged To John R. Drexel 4th". The New York Times. 8 January 1969. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      26. Times, Special to The New York (15 June 1969). "Pamela Brataga Wed to John Drexel 41h". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      27. Curtis, Charlotte (21 August 1967). "The Astors Come Out for a Newport Party". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      28. "Jackie Astor and J. R. Drexel 4th Wed". The New York Times. 15 February 1984. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      29. "Miss Drexel Wed To W.J. O'Farrell". The New York Times. 1 July 1990. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      30. Sullivan, Margo (10 March 2016). "Beavertail woman remembers Stonor Lodge". Jamestown Press. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      31. Winthrop, Christian (25 February 2016). "Huge Fire Destroys Drexel Estate on Bellevue Avenue". Newport Buzz. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
      32. Norwich, William (21 July 2001). "PUBLIC LIVES; A Newport Aristocrat Has Fallen for Everyman's Game". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      33. "Noreen Stonor Drexel". riheritagehalloffame.com. Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      34. "Obituaries: Noreen Stonor Drexel". Social Register Association. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
      35. Knickerbocker, Suzy (28 December 1987). "Personalities". Austin American-Statesman. p. 40. Retrieved 11 July 2023.

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