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mh SHE DEFINED GENEROSITY 04/14/1998
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1998, The Miami Herald
DATE: Tuesday, April 14, 1998 EDITION: Final
SECTION: Editorial PAGE: 12A LENGTH: 33 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Poly Lux DE HIRSCH Meyer
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: Herald Staff
MEMO: POLLY LUX DE HIRSCH MEYER, 98
SHE DEFINED GENEROSITY
She made a fortune, and gave much of it away.
In recent years residents of Greater Miami saw Polly Lux de Hirsch Meyer's
more often on buildings named for her than in the newspapers. Mrs. de Hirsch
Meyer, who died on Saturday at age 98, was no longer in the limelight as she
once was. But thousands of Greater Miamians have benefited from her decades of
generosity.
Born Polly Lux, the glassblower's daughter from Pittsburgh became a model
and Ziegfeld Follies showgirl in New York City. She came to Miami in 1934.
Before long she had earned a building-contractor's license and formed her own
construction company. She built 30-plus hotels in Miami Beach.
In 1950 she married Baron de Hirsch Meyer, a banker, lawyer, and Miami
Beach commissioner. He died in 1974. They, and then she, gave millions of
dollars to local hospitals, the University of Miami, and other institutions.
"Her desire to have a lot of money was so she could give it away, " says
Leonard Abess Jr., chairman of Mount Sinai Hospital's Board of Trustees.
The de Hirsch Meyers' philanthropy is evident in structures bearing their
names at Mount Sinai, Jackson Memorial Hospital, and the Miami Jewish Home for
the Aged. Five UM buildings bear the couple's name. She was the first $1
million donor to the Diabetes Research Institute.
All told, her charitable giving came to some $40 million. Rarely has
Greater Miami had a greater benefactor than this generous self-made woman.