
Doris Buffett, Warren’s sister and head of her Sunshine Lady Foundation, speaks to students in a philanthropy class at UNO on March 30, 2011.
After Warren Buffett announced more than a decade ago that he would donate his fortune to charity, the news unleashed a flood of individual requests for help.
The Omaha billionaire didn’t ignore such requests. He instead sent them off to his big sister, Doris. And she and her assistants at her charitable foundation would pore over each, searching for people who, through no fault of their own, had fallen on hard times.
Countless times, those down-on-their-luck people would get a hand up from Doris and her Sunshine Lady Foundation: a man who needed a glass eye, a tombstone for a child who died, a woman with a disability who needed a car to get to work.
“These are decent people who just didn’t have the breaks somebody else did,” Doris once said.
Doris Buffett, who used the wealth from her brother’s investment success to make a name for herself through a very personal brand of retail philanthropy, died Tuesday at her home in Rockport, Maine. She was 92.
Warren, in an interview on Thursday, described his sister as a bighearted and talented woman who was “far more philanthropic than I am.”
“She gave time as well as money,” he said. “She did that 10 hours a day. She really wanted to know their stories.”
Doris Buffett said her drive to help others was rooted in growing up in Omaha during the Great Depression, when she saw classmates gaunt from a lack of food at home. She said it also grew out of her own life disappointments, which included four divorces and the loss of millions when an investment firm failed.
Most of her charitable work was focused on cities on the East Coast where she spent much of her adult life, including Fredericksburg, Virginia, Boston and Rockport.
But she always kept a soft spot for the city of her childhood. Two years ago, she made her last visit to Omaha, and she and her brother drove around looking at former homes and other landmarks from their youth.
“I feel very kindly toward Omaha,” Doris once said. “I’ve lived in a lot of places. But where you were raised, that’s always home.”
Doris Eleanor Buffett grew up in Omaha’s Country Club neighborhood with her parents, brother and younger sister, Bertie.
Warren Buffett said his older sister was smart, talented and engaging. When they spent time around their grandfather’s grocery store in Dundee, it was clear to Warren that Doris was among his grandfather’s favorites.
Doris attended Benson High School before their father, Howard, was elected to Congress and moved the family to Washington, D.C. Doris graduated from high school there and had her eyes opened to a wider world.
But the message from her mother — with whom Doris had a complicated and at times troubling relationship — was that she needed to get married “while she still had her looks.” Warren said such messages sapped his sister of her self-confidence.
“She would have been a superstar in any kind of activity involving brains and personality,” Warren said. “If she had been born 20 or 30 years later, she could have been Johnny Carson. She was funny and smart and very fast.”
Doris ultimately met her brother’s college roommate, Truman Wood, and they were married. They moved to Denver and then Houston and then back to Omaha for his job with Conoco Oil. They had two daughters and a son together.
Doris also became one of the original seven investors in her brother’s investment trust, the origins of what would become Berkshire Hathaway — an investment that would set her up for a fortune of her own.
But other things happened during her early adult years. She divorced and moved back to the Washington area. She remarried and divorced, and then did so two more times. She never publicly spoke in great detail about those years.
“I just made some grand mistakes,” she once told The World-Herald.
She even lost her Berkshire fortune through some bad investments, ending up in debt when a Washington-area investment firm failed. She said in a candid 2010 interview with Charlie Rose that she was so ashamed about what happened, she could hardly talk to her brother.
But then in 1996, her mother died, and Doris and Bertie inherited a family investment trust. The trust had been established by their father, but her brother’s investment acumen had increased it to more than $300 million.
That same year, Doris established the Sunshine Lady Foundation and started her unique charitable work.
Often her help for others would come from out of the blue, with Doris reaching out after reading a story in the newspaper or hearing through word of mouth. And then she started answering the letters her brother received. Her charity grew at one point to a staff of over a dozen.
Her checks in response to letters averaged about $5,000. They also often came with some stern advice, like suggesting that one grandmother who was struggling financially could earn extra money by babysitting. Doris often sent information on local credit counseling services.
“We’re supposed to empower but not enable,” Doris told a reporter. “It’s a fine line, and I think it makes them more responsible in the end.”
Warren Buffett said he was amazed when he went to the office one day and saw his sister at work. She would pass out the letters to her assistants for review, but Doris made all the final decisions and would reach out to each recipient herself.
“It would have made a good movie,” he said. “She was empathetic, but in a very hard-nosed way. You didn’t want to try to con her.”
Not all her charitable gifts were such small amounts. She donated $40 million to help thousands of victims of domestic violence pay for college, and $1 million for research into a genetic syndrome that caused birth defects in children.
She also donated substantial sums to help people with mental illness and to fund college education for prison inmates. Warren Buffett has a picture on his office wall of his sister and him attending a 2010 graduation ceremony in New York’s famed Sing Sing prison.
Doris eschewed giving money to what she jokingly called “the SOBs” — the symphony, opera and ballet — saying she wanted to help people in need. During her life, she gave away hundreds of millions of dollars.
Doris later left her foundation after a dispute with the staff and started another called the Letters Foundation. Her life and charitable works were detailed in a book titled “Giving It All Away: the Doris Buffett Story.” She also in 2018 wrote her own book, “Letters to Doris: One Woman’s Quest to Help Those With Nowhere Else to Turn.”
Alex Rozek of Boston, Doris’ grandson, said Doris died of natural causes at home in Rockport while surrounded by family and listening to Billie Holiday, one of her favorite singers.
She is survived by siblings Warren, of Omaha, and Bertie, of Carmel, California; her three children Robin, Sydney and Marshall; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. The family will hold a memorial service at a later date.
During the 2010 interview with Rose, Doris was asked what she wanted her epitaph to be.
“She made a difference,” she quickly replied. “Unless you do, why were you here?”
This report includes material from the Associated Press.
Notable Nebraska, Iowa deaths of 2020
A roll call of notable people who have died in 2020:
Longtime prosecutor Gary Lacey helped create a care center for child victims of assault and violence in Lincoln and Lancaster County. Lacey died Jan. 2 at the age of 77. Read more
Rosemary Holeman was an avid traveler, visiting China in 2006. The onetime host of an Omaha children’s TV program died at home Jan. 3. Read more
Mark E. Horwich, 51, was on duty with the Clover-Roane Volunteer Fire Department of West Virginia when he was killed Jan. 11 in a crash en route to a structure fire near the town of Newton. Horwich was alone in a firetruck that went off the road and crashed, said Adam Smith, the assistant fire chief with the department. Horwich was a former captain with the Boys Town Volunteer Fire Department. Read more
Mark Lambrecht and his wife, Kristi, started working from their basement, then from their garage, then, finally, from a building in downtown Omaha, turning Lambrecht Glass Studio Inc. into a company that did projects for St. Vincent de Paul Church, the Cloisters on the Platte and the Holy Family Shrine. Lambrecht died Jan. 14 after a yearlong battle with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. He was 67. Read more
If a measure of one’s life was taken in days, Jimmy Smith got fewer than average. He died Jan. 15 at age 65. If a measure was taken in wealth, the retired U.S. Postal Service worker who put in 33 years wouldn’t crack the upper tiers of American society.But if that measure were taken in lives changed, then the former youth coach would break the scale. If you needed it, Jimmy gave it to you. Read more
During his 38 years at Benson High School, Alfred “Fred” Pisasale was one of the school’s most popular teachers. Pisasale, a 1946 Central High School graduate who wrestled and played tennis at Omaha University, died Jan. 22 after a brief illness. He was 91. Read more
Omaha real estate developer Millard Roy Seldin was just 12 when he first demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit. He bought a bike paid for with money he earned selling magazines door to door. He then used that bike to do more paper routes and earn more money. Years later, while in college, Seldin used those skills and work ethic to help his father, Ben Seldin, form the homebuilding company Seldin and Seldin. Millard Roy Seldin, a native of Council Bluffs, died on Jan. 24 at age 93 in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Read more
Officer Aaron Hanson, Falco’s handler on the job and his chauffeur in retirement, called The World-Herald on Jan. 28 to say the 14-year-old canine crime fighter was being put to sleep. Falco had developed a brain tumor that was causing him to suffer as he experienced an increasing number of seizures. Read more
Jacob Thiele, right, performs with The Faint at at Sokol Auditorium in 2003. As a member of The Faint, Thiele helped put Omaha’s music on the map. Thiele, who left the band in 2016, was found unresponsive by a friend at an Omaha residence and died Feb. 13, according to an Omaha police report. The report listed the cause of death as unknown. Read more
Frank Bemis, who served as Douglas County assessor for 24 years before retiring to work in the real estate and insurance businesses, died Feb. 14. Read more
Al DiMauro taught in the Omaha Public Schools from the 1960s until 1995, then taught Latin at Marian High until 2013. DiMauro died Feb. 20 at a nursing facility after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. Read more
Known as an astute businessman, car dealer Michael F. O’Daniel Sr. also displayed a gentle spirit, quick wit and a love of storytelling, his son Matt O’Daniel said. Michael O’Daniel came to Omaha in 1958 from Evansville, Indiana. His family purchased the Oldsmobile dealership downtown that later moved to 78th and Dodge Streets, where it’s now O’Daniel Honda. He died March 11 from Alzheimer’s disease. Read more
Doug Marr was one of the founders of Omaha’s Circle Theatre, which performed “diner theater” in greasy-spoon cafes and was a forerunner of other local theaters. Marr died March 16. Read more
Leo F. Connolly always tried to be fair, friendly and firm during his 30 years as an Iowa District Court judge. “That’s also the way he raised his kids,” son Joseph Connolly said. “He was always fair, and he was always friendly, but he was always firm, as well. He treated everybody the same, and he was very genuine. That was a great lesson to learn.” Leo Connolly died in his sleep at an assisted living home in Tucson, Arizona, on March 19. Read more
In a full life cut short by cancer, costume designer Travis Halsey stood tall. He found success designing for theater and ballet companies in Omaha, Houston, Chicago and beyond, eventually starting his own business. And a tall, permanent reminder of Halsey adorns the front of CHI Health Center Omaha. He was sculptor Matthew Placzek’s model for the 14-foot statue of a mime on stilts near the doors of the arena. He died of liver cancer April 6. Read more
In business and with family, Frank Rizzuto lived by the simple creed of always seeing the best in other people.“Life is too short,” he liked to tell his wife and four daughters. “Always try to like and appreciate each other.” Rizzuto and his wife of 50 years, Jeri, built several businesses, including ATS Mobile Telephone Inc., Business Realty Corp. and American Answering Service. He died April 12 from kidney disease. Read more
Darrell Dibben, a longtime professor at Dana College in Blair, died April 12 from complications of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at Immanuel Medical Center. “He cared so much more about others. That’s what made him an outstanding parent and an outstanding teacher, said Dibben's eldest son, Dave. Read more
Whether flying a P-38 fighter plane in World War II or working as an Omaha dentist for 52 years, Dr. Donald H. Stormberg filled his 95 years with service to others. He died April 14 of natural causes in his Omaha home with his wife of 70 years by his side. Read more
Longtime Papillion-La Vista choral director David Cecil was described by his wife, Nancy, also a retired music teacher as "easygoing and loving and caring, and he always had a big smile.” David Cecil died May 23 at Hillcrest Country Estates Cottages after suffering from Parkinson’s disease for many years. Read more
Lobbyist Ron Withem, left, talks with State Sen. DiAnna Schimek at the State Capitol in this March 2005 photo. Withem was the chief architect of Nebraska's school aid system during his 15-year legislative career. After leaving the Legislature, he was a longtime lobbyist for the University of Nebraska system. He died May 28 after suffering from Parkinson’s disease for several years. Read more
Ed McVaney's expertise in technology and business eventually enabled him and his wife, Carole, to help start the Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, one of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s best-known academic programs, with a $32.2 million donation in 1998. He died June 4. Read more
Christmas time for the Omaha family of Jane and Bob Meehan invariably included a visit from the book fairy, as well as St. Nicholas. Mary Jane “Janie” Meehan was a tireless promoter of reading and communication, said daughter Monica Meehan of Colorado Springs, Colorado. The books Janie gave as Christmas gifts would include the recipient’s name, the year and a signature from “The Book Fairy.” She died Aug. 6. Read more
As a kid, James Schwertley was small and scrawny growing up near St. Cecilia Cathedral. He gained confidence and muscle mass when he began lifting weights in 1945, an unusual practice for the time. This photo shows him as a lifeguard at Peony Park in 1950. Schwertley won the second Mr. Omaha contest in 1949 as well as the Mr. Nebraska and Mr. Midwest contests in the light-heavyweight division in weightlifting. He also earned a journalism degree from Creighton University, joined the Air Force, where he became a fitness trainer and won more bodybuilding titles, and eventually entered the seminary and became a priest. He was described as having "the ability to really touch people and help them with a variety of challenges." Schwertley died July 8. Read more
Austin “Bella” Tierney “was a very sweet person and kind of innocent to the world,” said father Les Tierney. “She loved listening to music, going out to eat and movies. Pretty much all the typical things young people do." Bella Tierney died Aug. 27 when was hit by a truck while she was trying to cross Interstate 80. Read more
Don Kalal, of Omaha, started singing and acting in high school with his eventual wife, Jackie, and didn’t completely stop until his death on Oct. 14 at age 92. He performed in musicals such as “Guys and Dolls,” “Man of La Mancha” and “Shenandoah” at the Omaha Community Playhouse in the 1970s and 1980s. Here he is performing in “Guys and Dolls" in the 1984-85 season. He's pictured with Dawn Buller-Kirke. Read more
While David Karnes is probably best known publicly for the two years he served as a U.S. senator from Nebraska, he carved out a much larger legacy in Omaha as a devoted family man deeply involved in the city’s civic, legal and charitable communities. Karnes died Oct. 25 after a months-long battle with cancer. He was 71. Read more
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