Campbell Soup heiress, philanthropist Dorrance Hamilton dies

PHILADELPHIA – The granddaughter of the Campbell Soup Co. founder and a philanthropist who gave away millions of dollars to Philadelphia educational and cultural institutions has died.

Dorrance Hill Hamilton was 88. Nancy Brent Wingo, executive director of the Hamilton Family Foundation, says Hamilton died Tuesday at her home in Boca Grande, Florida. A cause of death wasn’t disclosed.

Hamilton donated millions of dollars to Philadelphia institutions including Thomas Jefferson University, the University of the Arts, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts.

She was a fixture at the Philadelphia Flower Show, winning countless ribbons over three decades before retiring from competition in 2014.

Her grandfather John T. Dorrance was the founder of Camden, New Jersey-based Campbell Soup Co. He invented the process used to make condensed soups.