Judith Peabody—a well-known New York socialite, philanthropist and early AIDS advocate—died July 25 in her Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan as a result of a series of strokes in the last two years, The New York Times reports. She was 80. After the AIDS-related death of a friend in the 1980s, Peabody volunteered at Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), where she served as a “care partner” (someone who accepts responsibility for helping a person with HIV/AIDS) to dozens of men, led support groups and raised as well as donated money to GMHC.

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