The Katherine Neeb McCrady Fund encompasses three generations of the Neeb Family, an influential and wealthy Pittsburgh family whose fortune was made in publishing.
Of German descent, the Neebs published a newspaper called "Freiheits Freund" during the 1800s and into the early 20th century. The family was well known for their extensive charitable and philanthropic interests as well.
The three generations of women who formed the nucleus of the fund were Amanda Malvina Allison Neeb, who married John Lewis Neeb. Amanda's daughter-in-law, Ida Malvina Neeb, who eventually inherited the family estate; Ida, in turn, left her fortune to her daughter Katherine who established the fund with The Pittsburgh Foundation for charitable purposes.
Ida was a distinguished socialite and prominent philanthropist during her lifetime. Educated in private and public schools. She was active in the Tuesday Musical Club, the American National Red Cross, the Christ Methodist Episcopal Church, the Young Women's Christian Association and an incorporator of the Homeopathic Hospital of Pittsburgh. She died sometime after 1918.
Ida's daughter Katherine was born in Lancaster, Ohio. She was educated at Ursuline Academy, Seton Hill Academy, and at the Thurston-Gleim Preparatory School in Pittsburgh, among others. In 1911, she became the wife of businessman Howard C. McCrady of the McCrady Brothers Company, a successful building supply firm in Western Pennsylvania. The McCradys lived in the East End on Friendship Avenue in Bloomfield.
During her lifetime, Katherine was a member of the National Red Cross Association, the YWCA, and the First Presbyterian Church of Wilkinsburg. She travelled the world extensively and finally settled in Wickenburg, Arizona where she founded the Desert Caballeros Western Museum. She died in 1986 at the age of 92. The fund in her name continues to support the charitable work of The Pittsburgh Foundation.
Type of Fund
- Unrestricted