Susan Herter

The Illinois native, who came to New Mexico as a visitor in the 1930s and moved here in the late 1970s, was instrumental in starting and/or serving on the boards of such Santa Fe institutions as Cornerstones Community Partnerships, Think New Mexico and the North American Institute. Herter died in November 2021 of natural causes, just a month or so after her 97th birthday. Herter, born Susan Cable in Evanston, Ill., on Oct. 14, 1924, gave few interviews. Herter, who was executive director of the Thaw Charitable Trust. said she met philanthropist Eugene Thaw when he rented her house in Pojoaque while appraising the estate of the late artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Before that time, much of Herter’s life and career was connected to the work of the late Nelson Rockefeller, the Republican businessman, politician and Vice President. They first met during WWII when Herter worked for the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, later known as the Office for Inter-American Affairs, in Washington, D.C. When Rockefeller became involved with, and president of, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, he hired Herter as a liaison for the museum When Rockefeller served as vice president under former President Gerald Ford, he hired Herter in January 1976 as his chief of staff.. Married at least once, Herter said little to friends about that part of her life.