Leanne Bovet Roberts

Leanne Bovet Roberts, a prominent philanthropist and San Francisco socialite who had a passion for animal causes, died on May 7 after a short illness. She was 57. Mrs. Roberts was married to George Roberts, a co-founder of private equity investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., and served as president and CEO of the Roberts Foundation, a philanthropist organization based in San Francisco. The foundation gave out millions of dollars to a variety of arts, education, social service and youth programs. Mrs. Roberts also was actively involved with a number of arts and animal organizations, including the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Opera and the Palace of the Legion of Honor. She was a board member for the San Francisco Zoological Society since 1987. Mrs. Roberts and her husband also gave substantial amounts of money to the San Francisco SPCA to fund the Roberts Medical Center to treat injured animals. She also had been an SPCA board member since 1988. Mrs. Roberts served as a trustee of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She and her husband endowed the curatorial position for education and public programs at SFMOMA. Mrs. Roberts was raised in San Mateo and studied at Orme School in Arizona and Pitzer College in Claremont (Los Angeles County), where she met her future husband, George. They were married for 35 years. In addition to her husband, Mrs. Roberts is survived by three children, Eric, Mark and Courtney Roberts; her mother, Mrs. Henry Howard; and two sisters.