Many Tucsonans are familiar with the UA’s Flandrau Planetarium. It has long been the place to go for stargazing. Recently it has faced serious budget issues. But, exactly who was the benefactress, Grace Flandrau, whose generous donation made the planetarium a reality.
Not something she discussed, it was believed Grace Flandrau was born around 1896, in Minnesota. She spent much of her life there and in Connecticut. Her father was a founder and president of Security Trust Co. of St. Paul.
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File photo circa 1940
Mrs. Flandrau at her St. Paul home.
She traveled extensively throughout her life. As a child she spent time at a private school in Paris. She spoke French and was an expert on French food. In 1908, she made a trip to the Orient.
She married William Flandrau, at the age of 22. He was a Minnesota pioneer and son of an early associate justice of the state’s Supreme Court.
She and her husband owned a coffee plantation in Vera Cruz, Mexico. Her husband and brother-in-law both died in 1938 and she was the heir to both estates.
Flandrau was the author of four novels and many short stories. She also published many travel articles. In a 1937 article on outstanding Minnesota writers, a Saturday Evening Post writer included her on a list with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis and her brother-in-law Charles.
For her health, Flandrau started coming to Tucson in the early 1940s. She stayed with the family of her husband’s niece, Isabella Greenway King. In 1960, she purchased a home near King’s Arizona Inn.
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Star files
Grace Flandrau
For a 1976 Star article, two of her great-nieces talked about their aunt. Saranne Neumann said Mrs. Flandrau loved to enjoy a “long, chatty lunch” at the Pioneer Hotel with her friends. She would walk the four miles from her home on E. Elm St.
Another great niece, Martha Breasted, said “She was terribly good company, more fun to be with than anyone I know, extremely bright and very quick.”
When she died in 1971 her estate was worth over $8 million. Of that, more than one-third benefited Tucson.
Three million dollars went to move the national headquarters of the National Council on Crime and Delinquency to Tucson. They moved back to New Jersey in 1976.
Another $800,000 was left as an unrestricted gift to the University of Arizona. That money, plus interest, was used to build the Grace H. Flandrau Planetarium.
