Jane Bradley Pettit

Jane Bradley Pettit
Personal details
Born Jane Bradley
October 29, 1918
Died September 9, 2001 (aged 82)
River Hills, Wisconsin
Spouse(s) David Vogel Uihlein, Sr.
(1945-?; divorced)
Lloyd Pettit
(1969-1998; divorced)
Parents Harry Lynde Bradley
Residence Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Jane Bradley Pettit was an American philanthropist.[1][2][3][4][5]

Biography

Early life

Her father was Harry Lynde Bradley, co-founder of Allen-Bradley and the Bradley Foundation with her uncle, Lynde Bradley.[2][3][6] She attended the Lake School for Girls, Milwaukee-Downer Seminary and Milwaukee University School.[6] She graduated from The Principia in St. Louis, Missouri and studied drama at Finch Junior College.[6] She was a member of the Service Club of Milwaukee.[6] She entered society as a debutante on January 1, 1938 at the Milwaukee Country Club.[6]

Philanthropy

Over the course of her life, she donated more than $250 million to the community and through her Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation.[7] She donated $90 million to the BMO Harris Bradley Center.[1][2][5] Her US$20 million donation to build the Lynde & Harry Bradley School of Technology & Trade, which replaced 100-year old Milwaukee Technical & Trade High School, was the largest single private gift ever to a public school in the United States.[1] She also donated $9 million to the Pettit National Ice Center, an indoor skating facility with two Olympic-sized hockey rinks and a 400-meter skating oval.[1] In 1999, she bought 14 percent of the Milwaukee Brewers.[1] She was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame because of it.[4] She also donated more than US$100,000 to the United Way of Great Milwaukee.[8] The Jane Bradley Pettit Building, home to the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, is named for her. She founded the Jane Bradley Pettit Foundation.[9]

Personal life

In 1945, she married David Vogel Uihlein, Sr., heir to the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.[6] Their daughter, Lynde Bradley Uihlein, is President of the non-profit organization Brico Fund.[1] Their son, David Vogel Uihlein, Jr., is Vice-Chairman of the Bradley Foundation, President of Uihlein-Wilson Architects, and chairs the David & Julia Uihlein Charitable Foundation.[1][10][11]

She was married to Lloyd Pettit from 1969 to 1998.[4]

She died of lung cancer on September 9, 2001.[3] In 2002, her estate in River Hills, Wisconsin was sold to David Kohl, the son of Allen Kohl of Kohl's and the nephew of U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.).[3] She also owned homes in Land O' Lakes, Wisconsin and Naples, Florida, where she wintered.[3]

References