Her family told the Los Angeles Times that she died of complications from lung cancer. “Cancer may have beaten her body, but it never got her spirit,” her family told the paper. “We will hold her and her wisdom in our hearts forever.”

Annenberg’s children Lauren Bon, Gregory Weingarten and Charles Weingarten, co-directors of the foundation, told JNS that “to the public, she was a dynamic force in philanthropy. To us, she was a mother, grandmother, friend, mentor and a force of nature, whose life and family remain committed to honoring public service.”

“Her generosity and commitment will be lifting people up for many generations to come,” they said.

Richard Hirschhaut, who directs the American Jewish Committee’s Los Angeles office, told JNS that the city “and our nation have lost a truly remarkable and visionary leader.”

“This past Saturday evening, while walking with family in Beverly Hills, I was struck by the beauty and majesty of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts,” Hirschhaut said. “This is just one of the countless points of light that Wallis Annenberg bestowed upon her beloved Los Angeles.”

“Angelenos of all backgrounds are the beneficiaries of her lifelong devotion to our city. Certainly, our Jewish community is stronger because of her unwavering values and vision,” he said. “She leaves an indelible imprint in having set the standard for how philanthropy can transform the health and well-being of a community and make lives better.”

Born in 1939 to media mogul Walter Annenberg and his first wife, Bernice Veronica Dunkelman, Annenberg “grew up living both at her mother’s house in Washington, D.C., and at her father’s estate near Philly,” according to the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Annenberg “graduated fourth in her class from Pine Manor Junior College in Wellesley, Mass., in 1959, and was set to attend Columbia University in the fall. But that summer her plans changed,” according to the NEH, which awarded her a national humanities medal in 2022.

“In Venice, during a celebratory European trip, she met Seth Weingarten, a Princeton grad starting medical school at Yale. They were married a year later,” it added. “Wallis and Seth had three sons and a daughter, settled in California and divorced in 1975.”

In 1989, Annenberg’s father established the family foundation using a third of the proceeds from his 1988 sale of Triangle Publications to Rupert Murdoch for $3 billion. Annenberg took over the foundation after her father’s death in 2002 and her stepmother’s death in 2009.

Since 2009, Annenberg “has overseen the distribution of more than $611 million to over 2,280 organizations,” according to the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School of Journalism.

“Prior to that, she directed the Los Angeles office of the foundation in giving nearly half a billion dollars to over 1,000 organizations,” it added.

Annenberg served on the school’s board of councilors and was the longest-serving USC trustee, according to the school.

Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, stated that Annenberg’s death “is a loss that resonates beyond words here in Los Angeles” and that her “selfless leadership and visionary spirit transformed our city in profound and lasting ways.”

“Los Angeles is stronger because of her. Her legacy of generosity will live on forever through the many lives changed by her service,” Bass added.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, stated that Annenberg was “a visionary,” who “worked on broader societal issues, including funding medical research, economic development and environmental protection, but she deeply believed in supporting the American right to the pursuit of happiness.”

“She was always determined to find new ways to help people achieve a better, more joyful quality of life, and above all else, to help people connect with each other,” the governor said. “California is better for all that she did, and for her enormous heart and unbelievable generosity.”

Robert Trestan, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s west division, told JNS that Annenberg was “a visionary philanthropist, whose commitment to equity and community transformed the very fabric of Los Angeles.”

“ADL was honored to partner with her on ArtWorks, just one of her many efforts to build a more inclusive city through art and creativity,” he said. “Her bold leadership and generosity uplifted countless lives and institutions across Los Angeles, leaving behind a legacy that will inspire generations to come.”

Aram Goldberg, senior vice president of public relations and media strategy at the Jewish Federation Greater Los Angeles, told JNS that “the Annenberg family’s loss is a loss shared by the entire Jewish community, where the work sustained by her thoughtful generosity, most recently to support community security and our fight against antisemitism, remains as a testament to her lifetime of commitment to the Jewish people.”

Annenberg is survived by four children and five grandchildren.