Background
Wilsey was born Diane Dow Buchanan. Her father, Wiley T. Buchanan, was the United States. ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria, as well as the White House Chief of Protocol under Dwight Eisenhower.
Wilsey was born Diane Dow Buchanan. Her father, Wiley T. Buchanan, was the United States. ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria, as well as the White House Chief of Protocol under Dwight Eisenhower.
Her privileged childhood featured summers at the family estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and in the south of France. When she made her social debut in 1961, as a Connecticut College student, Town & Country Magazine featured her on its cover. She and Wilsey were fixtures on the social axes of San Francisco and Napa Valley, where they maintained a country house.
First Rate (at Lloyd's) Wilsey died in 2002 at age 82.
She remains a prominent figure in the artistic and cultural spheres of San Francisco. In 2005, she raised $190 million to rebuild the earthquake-damaged De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park, one of the largest collective gifts ever made to an American museum.
She has raised millions for local causes like the renovation of Grace Cathedral, as well as the establishment of numerous trusts for organizations such as the San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Opera. In March 2013, Wilsey was accused of creating turmoil among the staff at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, following the death of its longtime director, John Buchanan.
She was accused of using her affluence and influence as board president to fire many long-term curators, using museum personnel to tend to her personal collection, and forcing a show of her son"s photos.
