One of RI’s Most Prominent & Wealthy Women - Sophie Danforth, Mother of Stephanie Chafee, Has Died

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Sophie Danforth, a noted Rhode Island philanthropist and the mother of Stephane Chafee, wife of former U.S. Senator and Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, has passed away.

The Danforths are considered one of Rhode Island’s Five Families — families that controlled much of the state’s wealth and influence in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Chafee confirmed her mother’s passing on social media on Sunday.

A noted philanthropist, Danforth was active in the Rhode Island nonprofits, with the Sophie Danforth Conservation Biology Fund (SDCBF), established by Roger Williams Park Zoo and the Rhode Island Zoological Society in 1989 to support conservation programs that protect threatened wildlife and habitats worldwide.

The Roger Williams Park Zoo has a building — the Stephanie Danforth Administration Building — named in her honor.

Danforth was the wife of Murray Danforth, a Vice President and Treasurer of the Rhode Island School of Design, which the family founded in 1877.

Also, Danforth was the President of the B Street Foundation — formerly the Sophie and Murray Danforth Foundation — with Stephanie Chafee serving as director.

The couple had been major shareholders in the Providence Journal Company. The company was sold to Dallas-based A.H. Belo in 1996 for $1.5 Billion.

Chafee took to Facebook to honor her mother.

“To my dearest friends, I wanted to let you know that my Mum passed this weekend. But she would have loved this artist/author,” said Chafee, quoting to the following.

“Always remember you matter, you’re important and you are loved, and you bring to this world things no one else can.”