Kaye Thurman Jamison, 87, a founder of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. who also helped choose the location to which the zoo moved 40 years ago this month, died of cancer November 16, 2006 at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, said her husband, Max.

"She was the driving force of private-sector assistance for the establishment of the zoo," said Connie Morgan, president of the group that Jamison helped set up in 1963.

The private, nonprofit group immediately set to work building a membership base that could raise money to expand the zoo's collection. Jamison, of North Hollywood, served as the group's president from 1968 to 1972.

In 1970, she co-chaired the group's first Beastly Ball with Gloria Stewart, wife of actor Jimmy Stewart. Jamison also established the zoo's docent and travel programs.

Born August 6, 1919, in Butte, Montana, Jamison grew up in San Marino and lived in Hawaii after high school, working as a civilian secretary for the Navy. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, she helped tend the wounded, her husband said.

Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2006