Agnes Varis, American philanthropist, died from cancer he was , 81.

Agnes Varis (born Agnes Koulouvaris;) was founder and president of Agvar Chemicals Inc. and Aegis Pharmaceuticals.

(January 11, 1930 – July 29, 2011)

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Varis was the only child of eight to attend college. She earned her degree in Chemistry and English from Brooklyn College. She attended New York University's Stern School of Business.
In 1970, aged 40, she started Agvar Chemicals and co-founded Marsam Pharmaceuticals in 1985. She became the founder and President of Aegis Pharmaceuticals in 1992. Ms. Varis was appointed by President Barack Obama to the PCAH committee, which encompassed 26 leading citizens from the private sector with an interest in and commitment to the humanities and the arts.
Its members also included twelve federal members whose agencies had cultural programs, such as the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the U. S. Department of Education, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.^[1]

Humanitarian causes

In 2004 Dr. Varis became involved with The Jazz Foundation of America. Her work with the Jazz Foundation includes providing funding and creating employment opportunities for America's elderly jazz and blues musicians.^[2]
Through her work in response to Hurricane Katrina, in 2006 the Jazz Foundation of America established the Agnes Varis/Musicians in the Schools Program, first reaching out to displaced New Orleans musicians and subsequently employing more than 1000 musicians in eight states, including some 120 elderly jazz and blues musicians performing free concerts in New York City public schools, hospitals and nursing homes.^[3] In 2009, then Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana, Mitch Landrieu, presented Varis with the coveted "Saint of the Century" Award at the Jazz Foundation of America's annual benefit concert, A Great Night in Harlem, at the Apollo Theater.^{[citation needed]}
She was a resident of New York City, and active in Democratic political campaigns. In 2004, she was the 24th largest individual contributor to 527 groups, donating over USD $2,000,000 to pro-Democrat groups. Ted Leonsis, owner of the Washington Capitals NHL franchise and Washington Wizards NBA franchise was her cousin.^[4]

Death

Agnes Varis died at her home in New York City on July 29, 2011, aged 81.^[4] The cause of death was cancer.^[5]
Matthew James Perry Jr. (August 4, 1921 – July 29, 2011) was a United States federal judge.
Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Perry was in the United States Army from 1943 to 1946, and then received a Bachelor of Science degree from South Carolina State College in 1948 and an LL.B. from South Carolina State College in 1951. He was in private practice in Spartanburg, South Carolina from 1951 to 1961, and in Columbia from 1961 to 1976. He defended Gloria Blackwell^[1] and her daughter Lurma Rackley.^[2] He led the successful court case to integrate Clemson University in 1963 and led a major South Carolina reapportionment case in 1972. He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in 1974, but lost to Republican incumbent Floyd Spence.
Perry was the first African American lawyer from the Deep South to be appointed to the federal judiciary. In 1976, President Gerald Ford appointed Perry to the United States Military Court of Appeals (now the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces) in Washington, D.C.
On July 5, 1979, Perry was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina created by 92 Stat. 1629. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 19, 1979, and received his commission the following day, thereby becoming South Carolina's first African American federal judge. He assumed senior status on October 1, 1995.
The courthouse in Columbia, South Carolina, is named after him, although Senator Strom Thurmond wanted it named after himself.^[3]
Perry was found dead, aged 89, at his home on Sunday July 31, 2011 by a family member where his wife, Hallie, was reportedly in poor health. He was reported to have died on Friday after attending court that day.^[4]

 

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