John Jay Mortimer (1935 – 2013)[1] was an American financier and member of the prominent Mortimer family of New York.
Early life
He was one of six children born to Stanley Grafton Mortimer, Sr. (1890–1947)[2] and Kathleen Hunt Tilford (1890–1970).[3] His father was a stockbroker and U.S. amateur court tennis champion.[2] His siblings included Stanley G. Mortimer Jr. (1913–1999),[4] who was married to Babe Paley (1915-1978)[5] and then Kathleen H. Harriman (1917-2011),[6] the daughter of W. Averell Harriman,[7] Henry Tilford Mortimer (1916-1993),[8][2][9] Richard Mortimer,[2] Eve Mortimer (1918-2007),[10] who married Clarence Pell, Jr.[11] and later Lewis Cass Ledyard III (1911-1990).[12] His youngest sister, Katharine Mortimer (1923–2003), was married three times, including to Francis Xavier Shields, who became the grandfather of actress Brooke Shields.[13]
Mortimer grew up at Keewaydin in Tuxedo Park.[17] The family home was designed by Stanford White and once belonged to Pierre Lorillard III. His family, along with the Lorillards, were the founding families of Tuxedo Park.[18] His grandmother, the widow of Henry Morgan Tilford, was known as "one of the reigning dowagers of Tuxedo Park" for four decades. According to author Sally Bedell Smith, "her annual debutante dinners before the Autumn Ball determined which young women were approved for New York society."[6]
Mortimer was married to Senga Clark (née Mucci) Mortimer, an editor at House Beautiful magazine.[20] Senga, the daughter of Col. Henry Mucci (1909–1997),[21][22] was previously married and had a son, Dwight F. "Peter" Davis IV, from that marriage to Dwight Davis III,[23] a grandson of Dwight F. Davis, the U.S. Secretary of War.[24] Together, they were the parents of:[11]