Haire John R.

John R. HaireMUTUAL FUND EXECUTIVE & HEAD OF COUNCIL FOR AID TO EDUCATIONJohn R. Haire, 90 years, philanthropist, quiet activist, retired mutual fund executive, and president emeritus of the American Foundation for Maternal and Child Health died peacefully on Thursday, October 8, 2015.Born in Newport, R.I., on February 11, 1925, he graduated from Saint George's School, attended Brown University for two years and served in combat in Europe during World War II with the 18th Mechanized Cavalry Squadron. Admitted to Harvard Law School without an undergraduate degree, he graduated cum laude in1950. He practiced law briefly in Boston before becoming Legal and Administrative Assistant to William H. Vanderbilt, the former Governor of Rhode Island.In 1953, he joined the staff of the New York Stock Exchange where he served as Secretary of the Exchange and then as Vice President. During that period he was the originator of the Stock Gifts to Minors Act and served as Exchange liaison with various Government Agencies.In 1959, he became General Counsel of Anchor Corporation, a mutual fund management company headquartered in New Jersey. In 1964, he became Chairman of Anchor and President of the Anchor Group of Mutual Funds, by then the fifth largest mutual fund family in the United States. In 1968, he was elected Chairman of the Investment Company Institute. His service on the Institute's Board spanned the period from 1960 to 1994 and represents the longest tenure in the Board's history.Haire served as President of the Elizabeth General Hospital, the Family & Children's Society and The Vail Deane School. He also served on the Boards of Pingry School, the N.J. Symphony, Finch College, Saint George's School and Hospice of the Piedmont. His corporate directorships included Washington National Corporation and Bowne & Company, Inc.In 1978, on Mr. Haire's initiative, Anchor's business was acquired by Capital Research & Management Company of Los Angeles and Mr. Haire, motivated by his interest in education, became the President of the Council for Aid to Education, the "Give to the College of Your Choice" charitable organization. In that capacity, he worked closely with the country's largest corporations in the development of programs to encourage corporate and individual giving to education. During his time at CFAE he served on the Board of the American Council on Education, the Foundation for Independent Higher Education and the United Student Aid Funds.In 1981 he resumed his connection with the mutual fund industry when he became an independent director of the Dean Witter Group of Mutual Funds. By the end of the 1980s, the Group had grown in size and complexity to the point where Mr. Haire took on the role of Chairman of the Committee of Independent Directors, resigning his position as President of CFAE to assume full time responsibility for that assignment. He served in that capacity for the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Family of Mutual Funds until his retirement in May of 1999.Haire was essential as the editor of Doris Haire's landmark work, "The Cultural Warping of Childbirth," that was instrumental in the development of patient-friendly maternity care in the United States and "Implementing Family Centered Maternity Care with a Central Nursery," "How the F.D.A. Determines the 'Safety' of Drugs - Just How Safe is 'Safe'?," "Drugs in Labor and Birth," "The Pregnant Patient's Bill of Rights," "Improving the Outcome of Pregnancy Through the Increased Utilization of Midwives," "Maternity Care and Outcomes in a High-risk Service: the North Central Bronx Hospital Experience," "Fetal Effects of Ultrasound - a Growing Controversy," "Instructions for Nursing Your Baby," and "What Makes Healthier Babies? Breast-feeding."Haire provided the initial funding to hold the first meeting of the International Confederation of Midwives held in the United States and the creation of the first doctorate in Midwifery in the United States. Haire financed and supported Doris Haire's research on the effects of common obstetric drugs and procedures on maternal and infant outcome and child development.Haire was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 68 years, Doris Buttry Haire; their infant daughter, Anne Houghton Haire; and his parents, Jenny Pauline Houghton Haire and John Russell Haire Sr.He is survived by his sister, Elizabeth Lee Haire Vignato; daughter, Elizabeth Lee Haire and her husband, Leo J. Reijmers; son, Paul Jeptha Haire; daughter, Lynn Easton Haire Andrews and her husband, Dean Porter Andrews; grandchildren, Emily Anne Reijmers Almand and her husband, Andrew Iverson Almand, Peter Leonardus Reijmers, Francois Adrian Constant Goffinet, and Philip Adhemar Goffinet and his wife Elizabeth Johnson Fife Goffinet; great-granddaughters, Eloise LaMonica and Easton Elizabeth Almand; step-grandchildren, Justin James Andrews, his wife, Marion Deudon Andrews, and Olivia Andrews Zavala, her husband, Victor Zavala, and their children, Victoria Grey Zavala and Joseph Theodor Zavala.The family is truly grateful for the care, love and support of Dr. Jim Avery of Hospice of the Piedmont, Dr. Lindsay Friesen, the staff of University Village, and his loving caregivers Diane Staton, Kelli Clements, Kishi Smith, Nykeia Washington, Eartha Thomas, RN, Tosya Kugler and Sarah Graham.In lieu of flowers, donations to celebrate his life may be made to the American Foundation for Maternal and Child Health, P.O. BOX 555, Keswick, VA 22947 or Hospice of the Piedmont, www.hopva.org. A private interment will be held at the University of Virginia Columbarium with a Celebration of Life to be at University Village at a date to be arranged.