Obituaries: Donald Fisher, Joseph Gurwin, and Ruth Cole Kainen

Three prominent philanthropists have died recently:

• Donald Fisher, the billionaire co-founder of the clothing chain the Gap and a major supporter of education and art, died September 27 of cancer, The San Francisco Chronicle reports. Mr. Fisher amassed one of the world’s most important modern-art collections. He and his wife, Doris, have donated $60-million since 2000 to the nonprofit charter-school operator KIPP and $40-million to Teach for America.

• Joseph Gurwin, who donated much of his textiles fortune to medical, scientific, and education causes in the United States and Israel, died September 24 of congestive heart failure in his Manhattan home, reports The New York Times. A native of Lithuania who made millions manufacturing specialized textiles for the military, Mr. Gurwin chaired the UJA-Federation of New York from 1988 to 1991, helped found the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and established the Rosalind and Joseph Gurwin Jewish Geriatric Center of Long Island.

• Ruth Cole Kainen, an art collector who donated more than 700 works to the Smithsonian’s National Gallery of Art, died earlier this month of congestive heart failure, reports The Washington Post. Ms. Kainen’s collection, amassed over several decades with her late husband, the artist and curator Jacob Kainen, encompassed paintings, drawings, engravings, and prints dating from the 15th century to the present day.

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