OrlandoSentinel.com

Patricia A. Disney, 77, who grew up as a neighbor of Roy E. Disney in Toluca Lake and was married to him for more than 50 years, died Friday of Alzheimer's disease, her family announced.

She was the vice chairman of Shamrock Holdings Inc., the investment company for the Roy E. Disney family.

In 1955, Patricia married Walt Disney's nephew, Roy, and they had four children, who survive her. After the couple divorced in 2007, he remarried in 2008 and died at 79 in 2009.

"We will always remember her irrepressible spirit and dedication to our company," Robert Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Co., said in a statement. "Patty was known for her kindness, outgoing nature, and especially for her philanthropy."

Her philanthropic endeavors included donating $5 million to help establish the REDCAT theater at Disney Hall and $10 million to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank to create the Roy and Patricia Disney Family Cancer Center.

Born Patricia Dailey on Jan. 11, 1935, in New Orleans, she moved to Toluca Lake when she was 6. She spent a year at the University of Colorado in Boulder and worked in advertising in New York before marrying Roy, the only child of Walt's brother, Roy O. Disney.

At home, she had long served as her husband's "gatekeeper," he once said, and despite the family's wealth, maintained an outwardly unpretentious lifestyle. One main indulgence was a castle in Ireland, which was her "refuge from the world," according to a memorial website.