Marguerite Harbert
Template:Short description Template:Infobox person Marguerite Jones Harbert (1923 – March 17, 2015) was an American philanthropist and billionaire from Alabama.
Early life
Margarite Jones was born in 1923 in Birmingham, Alabama. Her father was Raymond McAdoo Jones and her mother, Marguerite Nabers Jones.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit">Obituary: Marguerite Jones Harbert, The Birmingham News, March 17, 2015</ref> She had a sister, Alice McGriff.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/> She descended from Birmingham's founders.<ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews">Template:Cite news</ref>
She was educated at Mountain Brook Elementary School and Phillips High School.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/> She graduated from Birmingham–Southern College, where she served as president of the Kappa Delta sorority chapter.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/><ref name="forbesdropoff">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Philanthropy
Jones worked for the American Red Cross in Jefferson County, Alabama.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/><ref name="forbesdropoff"/> Later, she volunteered for the "Junior League of Birmingham, Advent Day School, All-Saints School, Children's Hospital, Center for Developmental Learning Disabilities, Spain Rehabilitation, Birmingham Art Association, Birmingham Ballet League, American Heart Association and Linly Heflin Unit."<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/> A member of the American Needlepoint Guild, she needlepointed an armchair for Alabama Governor's Mansion.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/>
She served on the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Birmingham-Southern College, where the Marguerite Jones Harbert Building was named in her honor.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/> She was also inducted into its Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.<ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/> She also served on the Boards of Trustees of the Birmingham Museum of Art and Cancer Comprehensive.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/> Additionally, she served on the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/>
Personal life
She married John M. Harbert, the founder of Harbert Corporation, whom she had met in grade school.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="forbesdropoff"/> They had two sons, John Murdoch Harbert IV (born with William's Syndrome) and Raymond J. Harbert (who founded Harbert Management Corporation in 1993), and a daughter, Marguerite Harbert Gray.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/> They resided in Mountain Brook, Alabama, and summered in Highlands, North Carolina.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/> They attended St. Mary's on-the-Highlands Episcopal Church.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/>
The couple were married for 43 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1995, her husband predeceased her, and upon his death, she inherited his fortune. By 2013, she was the wealthiest person in Alabama, with an estimated wealth of US$1.5 billion.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She admitted she found it "hard in a way" to be rich.<ref>The Associated Press, Alabama's richest person says that being wealthy is 'hard in a way', The Tuscaloosa News, March 2, 2004</ref>
She was a member of the Nineteenth Century Club and the Little Garden Club of America.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/>
Death
She died on March 17, 2015.<ref name="birminghamnewsobit"/><ref name="alabamasbillionairealnews"/>