Winthrop Rockefeller - Personal Life

Personal Life

On February 14, 1948, Mr.Rockefeller married Mrs. Barbara "Bobo" Sears. She was the former wife of Boston Brahmin figure Richard Sears, Jr. The wedding took place in Florida, and at the reception, a choir sang Negro spirituals. On September 17, 1948, the couple welcomed the birth of their son, Winthrop Paul Rockefeller.

The couple separated in 1950 and divorced in 1954. She was later engaged to Charles W. Mapes, Jr., but never married him.

On June 11, 1956, Mr. Rockefeller wed the Seattle-born socialite Mrs. Jeanette Edris Barrager Bartley McDonnell (1918-1997); Rockefeller was her fourth husband. She left her first husband, Nate Barragar, less than three months after they were married. Edris had previously been married to a professional American football player, a lawyer, and a stockbroker. By her, WR acquired two stepchildren, Bruce Bartley and Ann Bartley, later Ann McNeil of San Francisco. The couple had no children together and divorced shortly after he left the governorship in 1971.

As the state's First Lady, Jeanette Rockefeller took a special interest in mental health issues.

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