La Pietra - Barbara Cox Anthony

Barbara Cox Anthony

On May 28, 2007 Barbara Cox Anthony, La Pietra's founder died at the age of 84. According to Forbes Magazine Anthony, the daughter of three-time Ohio governor James Cox (who also founded Cox Enterprises) was worth 12.6 billion dollars and the richest woman in Hawaii. Cox was replaced on La Pietra's board by Alice Guild.

Anthony married four times: Her first husband, Bradford Ripley, a naval aviator, died during World War II. The young widow met and married Stanley Kennedy while in Miami, where he was a member of the underwater demolition teams, the precursor to today's Navy SEALs. Stanley Kennedy was the son of the founder of Inter-Island Airways and its successor, Hawaiian Airlines. They moved here and she quickly took to the Islands, making it her home for the next 62 years. After their divorce, she married Glover, who died a few years later of a heart attack. Later, she wed Garner Anthony. Friends said she found much joy in her children and grandchildren. She is also remembered as an avid athlete who loved the outdoors. She'd competed in rodeos as a girl, and later other sports. She rode dirt bikes and raced cars. "A group of us played tennis at Beretania tennis court," recalled longtime friend Bill Morris. He quipped, "We allowed her to play with us as long as she brought the sandwiches and iced tea after the game." Actually, he added, she was a tennis standout, once winning a Miami tennis doubles championship with the late great Jack Kramer. Her activity level remained high despite advancing age. "She was snow skiing when she was 79 with an artificial hip, if that gives you an idea," Kennedy said. And she especially loved activity involving animals. "She was a great equestrian, and raised horses," Kennedy said. The Dayton Daily News, the first newspaper founded by her father, reported that in Hawaii, beneficiaries of her denonations included the Aloha United Way, a police officers charity, homeless shelters, animal rescue groups, hospitals, the YMCA, the Salvation Army and the Honolulu Museum of Art. That love of animals also translated into support for the Hawaiian Humane Society, though throughout her life, much of her benefactor role was kept quiet. "She didn't want or need to take credit for her generosity," Morris said. "Every year Forbes came out, we'd learn that (she was the richest person in Hawai'i). She was rich in different ways. She was rich in heart." Listed by Forbes in March as the 45th richest person in the nation, she was the only Hawai'i resident to make the list of billionaires. She had homes at Diamond Head and on the Big Island and elsewhere outside Hawai'i. Anthony and her sister, Anne Cox Chambers, served on the board of Cox Enterprises. She became "the financial angel for La Pietra," said Morris, who met her about six decades ago, surfing in Waikiki. "Whenever they needed money, she supplied it," he said, adding that in addition to meeting the school's financial needs, she helped with the headmistress' quarters and scholarships. "She was very generous," Morris said. "She gave a lot of people scholarships, but without people knowing where it came from. She gave money to Punahou for scholarships, but didn't want them to know who gave it." It was her way of staying under the radar. "Every Monday, she'd get a foot-high stack of people asking for money," Morris said. "She didn't want to be given any sort of publicity about things. She knew if (her various contributions would be made public), she'd get, instead of one foot of requests, it'd be two feet." But when Anthony would hear about a girl who might not be able to make tuition at La Pietra, she was quick to help. "She was very supportive of our school," said Nancy White of La Pietra. "She really was a supporter of education for young women; she wanted them to have full lives."