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Alida Rockefeller Messinger

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Name
  
Alida Messinger

Role
  
Philanthropist


Siblings
  
Jay Rockefeller

Nieces
  
Valerie Rockefeller



Spouse
  
Mark Dayton (m. 1978–1986)

Nephews
  
Justin Rockefeller, Charles Rockefeller, John D. Rockefeller V

Children
  
Andrew Dayton, Eric Dayton

Similar People
  
Mark Dayton, Jay Rockefeller, Blanchette Ferry Rockefeller, Justin Rockefeller

Alida Ferry Rockefeller (born 1948) is an American philanthropist. She is the youngest daughter of John Davison Rockefeller III (1906–1978) and Blanchette Ferry Hooker (1909–1992), and a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. Her brother is former Senator John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born 1937). According to an account in The New York Times, Alida was only five years old when her father began to teach her about philanthropy. She said:

"My father and mother's greatest fear was that their four children might take their wealth for granted and grow up spoiled and arrogant..... They wanted us to learn early that with wealth comes responsibility."

She is a major donor to conservation and environmental organizations. Her Alida R. Messinger Charitable Trust also funds conservation and environmental groups, as does the Rockefeller Family Fund, founded in 1967, of which she is a trustee.

Messinger also contributes financially to the Center for Public Integrity. She gave over a million dollars to democratic-leaning 527 organizations in 2004.

She married Mark Dayton in 1978, who was a United States Senator for Minnesota, 2001–2007, and has been Governor of Minnesota since 2011. They had two sons together, Eric and Andrew, before divorcing in 1986. Dayton is part of a family that started a retail store, which eventually became Target.

She has one daughter with her current husband William Messinger.

References

Alida Rockefeller Messinger Wikipedia