Peggy Tishman, 84, Communal Leader

Margaret “Peggy” Tishman, a communal leader and philanthropist for more than five decades, died March 5 at the age of 84 in Manhattan after an illness.

One of the guiding forces behind the merger of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York and the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York in the late 1980s, Tishman served for three years as the first president of the nascent entity, the UJA-Federation of New York. In so doing, she became one of the first women to serve as president of a major charitable federation. Tishman first gained national recognition for her volunteer efforts as an advocate for the low-income Jewish elderly and for assisted-living facilities.

She was married for 62 years to Alan Tishman, a scion of a family real estate empire who died two months ago. She is survived by a daughter, Pat T. Hall, and her son-in-law James Q. Hall; another son-in-law, Richard Alexander; six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Tishman was predeceased by her children, David Henry Tishman and Virginia Alexander.