Margaret Martin Brock; Major GOP Fund-Raiser

Margaret Martin Brock, a major Republican fund-raiser who befriended five U.S. presidents and a philanthropist who strove to help young people, has died. She was 93.

Brock, the widow of Brock and Co. jewelry stores owner George C. Brock, died Saturday in her Century City home.

Although she counted some Democratic officeholders such as U.S. Sen. Alan Cranston and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn among her friends, Brock was best remembered as the woman Ronald Reagan called “Mrs. Republican.”

Brock provided donations, fund-raising expertise and political advice to former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Reagan and George Bush.

Brock co-chaired California campaigns for the White House of Bush and Reagan, and Pete Wilson’s U.S. Senate and governor races.

She was a delegate or alternate to 10 national Republican conventions, was a co-founder of the Republican Eagles and became the only woman to receive an Eagle of the Year award. Brock was also honorary vice chairwoman and a longtime member of the Republican National Finance Committee.

For the past 20 years, she served as finance chairwoman for Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), who saluted her Tuesday in a speech delivered on the floor of the House of Representatives.

“Margaret Brock’s generous encouragement led many of us to choose public service,” Dreier told his colleagues. “Her support of higher education and the Republican Party leaves a legacy that will continue for generations to come.”

Most of Brock’s philanthropy was devoted to educational institutions, scholarships and organizations that provide learning situations for young people or assistance to the poor.

She became a major supporter of Pepperdine University in the early 1970s as it was building its Malibu campus. An active member of the Board of Regents for several years, she generously funded Brock House, the residence of the Pepperdine president; created the Brock Scholars program in the Pepperdine School of Law, and established several other scholarships for the university. Pepperdine demonstrated its gratitude by giving her an honorary degree in 1972.

“Mrs. Brock was one of those rare individuals whose goals extended beyond her own lifetime,” said Pepperdine President David Davenport. “Her interest and investment in the future of promising young people has been incalculable.”

She also established the Margaret Martin Brock Internship in Practical Politics at Claremont McKenna College and made substantial donations to her alma mater, Mount Vernon College in Washington.

Brock also gave large donations to the Salvation Army, Goodwill Industries, the American Red Cross, the Boy Scouts of America, the Los Angeles Mission, Union Rescue Mission, the Midnight Mission, the USO and YMCA.

A Los Angeles Times Woman of the Year in 1956, Brock was a co-founder of the Los Angeles County Music Center, a co-founder of the Junior League of Los Angeles, an active member of the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge and on advisory committees for several charitable organizations.

She is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Handley of Carmel, Calif.

No memorial services are planned. Memorial donations can be made to the Margaret Martin Brock Memorial Fund at Pepperdine University.