{{Short description|Canadian civic leader and philanthropist}} [[File:Muriel Kauffman.JPG|thumb|Kauffman]] [[File:Muriel Kauffman burial.jpg|thumb|Muriel Kauffman burial site, Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden]]
'''Muriel Irene McBrien Kauffman''' (August 28, 1916 – March 17, 1995) was a Canadian civic leader and philanthropist in [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. She was the wife and partner of [[Ewing Kauffman]]. Ewing and Muriel worked together at Marion Labs and were the founding owners of the [[Kansas City Royals]] baseball team.
She was born in [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], graduated from the [[Trafalgar Castle School]] in [[Whitby, Ontario]] and [[McMaster University]] in [[Hamilton, Ontario]]. Her father was Toronto lawyer and politician [[Fred McBrien]].<ref>{{cite news |work=Toronto Star |date=October 22, 2015 |page=GT1 |url=http://www.pressreader.com/canada/toronto-star/20151022/282222304608667/TextView |title=First lady of the Kansas City Royals hailed from Toronto}}</ref> She met Ewing in the early 1960s in [[Miami|Miami, Florida]]. He was attending a medical convention and she was vacationing at the same hotel. They married in February 1962.
After her death, her remains were interred at the [[Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden]] next to her husband's remains.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/ewing-and-muriel-kauffman-memorial-garden-says-no-more-organized-photos|publisher=[[KSHB-TV|KSHB TV 41]]|access-date=August 6, 2016|title=Ewing and Muriel Kauffman Memorial Garden says no more organized photos|first=Jadiann|last=Thompson|date=April 28, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827013933/http://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/ewing-and-muriel-kauffman-memorial-garden-says-no-more-organized-photos|archive-date=August 27, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
in 1987, the Foundations for Ewing and Muriel split due to their diverse interests; Muriel focused her philanthropic effort on performing and visual arts, as well as causes related to healthcare,<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|title=Muriel Kauffman is dead- "Mrs. K." widow of the Royals owner was at Mayo Clinic|last=Skodack|first=Debra|date=March 18, 1995|work=Kansas City Star}}</ref> whereas Ewing's favorite charities revolved around education and entrepreneurial support.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.murielmcbrienkauffmanfoundation.org|title=Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation|last=Kauffman|first=Julia}}</ref> Muriel's legacy is further cemented with her receipt of the Mr. Baseball Award from the Baseball Writer Association of America, the William Booth Award from the Salvation Army, and, with her husband, the 1986 Mankind Award from the Heart of America Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.<ref name=":0" /> Muriel was named a director of UMB in 1971, and she was granted an honorary doctor of law degree from McMaster University (her undergraduate alma mater) in 1985.<ref name=":1" />
== Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts ==
In 1994, Muriel dedicated much of her foundation's effort to realizing the construction of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts.<ref name=":0" /> Upon Muriel Kauffman's death, Julia Irene Kauffman (Muriel's daughter) carried forward her mother's idea to build a performing arts center in Kansas City. As chairman of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, Julia Kauffman worked to turn her mother's dream into a performing arts center.
In the Crossroads District of Kansas City, Missouri, the [[Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts]] was opened in the fall of 2011.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ll_kauffman-center |date=2010-10-14 |title=Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts to Open in Kansas City September 16-18, 2011 |url=https://www.kauffmancenter.org/kauffman-center-for-the-performing-arts-to-open-in-kansas-city-september-16-18-2011/ |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts |language=en-US}}</ref>
The center includes a 1,600-seat concert hall and a 1,800-seat proscenium theater, and is the performance home for the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet. The Kauffman Center also features a diverse range of performances in both halls including dance and music of all types from pop to rock, light classical to country, jazz groups to bands, and gospel to folk music, as well as smaller Broadway and off-Broadway touring productions.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.kauffmancenter.org Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233904/http://kclibrary.org/localhistory/media.cfm?mediaID=34912 KC Public Library biography] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070312043307/http://kclibrary.org/localhistory/list.cfm?list=sub&SubjectareaID=69085 KCPL Resources]
{{Kansas City Royals}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kauffman, Muriel}} [[Category:1916 births]] [[Category:1995 deaths]] [[Category:Businesspeople from Toronto]] [[Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:Kansas City Royals owners]] [[Category:Women sports owners]] [[Category:Philanthropists from the Kansas City metropolitan area]] [[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]