Arts
Donor Alfred King was 'a kind of giant' to Austin arts
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, March 27, 2006
Alfred King, one of Austin's leading philanthropists and great-grandson of King Ranch founder Richard King, died Saturday of a lung infection.
The private investor was 89. He is survived by his wife, Ellen, also a major contributor to charities, and three children.
"It's the passing of an era," said Laurence Miller, former director of Laguna Gloria Art Museum, which King helped mold into the Austin Museum of Art. "He was a kind of giant, not just because he was tall and lanky. Alfred held things together."
King sold his part of his family's ranching empire and moved with his wife from McAllen to Austin in 1960. They frequently visited Santa Fe, N.M., where the couple cultivated interests in music, opera and visual art.
"He was an absolutely devoted husband," Miller said. "He and Ellen were partners in life. They did everything together."
When the Kings gave money, they did it the old-fashioned way, quietly or even anonymously. So, though they are credited with donating millions, no total can be tallied.
King served as founding chairman of the Austin Lyric Opera board of directors, among his other leadership positions.
"He was an unbelievable leader," said Helen Baxter, friend of the Kings and former president of the opera board. "He knew what you had to do to accomplish a goal, to create an organization."
Earlier this year, the opera company named its next season for the Kings.
King, known for his dry, wicked sense of humor, played an early role in moving the arts — including the Austin Museum of Art and Long Center for the Performing Arts — downtown so they could be enjoyed by everyone, not just the elites.
He served on the leadership teams of the Paramount Theatre, Austin Symphony Orchestra, St. David's Heath Care System and St. David's Health Care Foundation. He was chairman of several of those boards, as well as the University of Texas College of Fine Arts Foundation Advisory Council.
In 1991, the Austin chapter of the National Society of Fund Raising Executives named King its Outstanding Philanthropist. Five years later, he was honored with the Allan Shivers Jr. lifetime achievement award from the Austin Chamber of Commerce. In 2003, he and Ellen were inducted into the Austin Arts Hall of Fame.
"He really believed in the future," Miller said. "Two of his great loves were technology and the arts. He was willing to explore almost anything. It was a really rich life."
Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. April 8 at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd.
