Former U.S. president Bill Clinton was one of hundreds of people who turned out yesterday for the funeral of philanthropist Andrea Bronfman, the wife of Charles Bronfman, heir to the Seagram liquor fortune. Ms. Bronfman died on Monday after being hit by a car while walking her dog in Manhattan. She was 60.

The service, at Manhattan's B'nai Jeshurun Synagogue, had an overflow crowd that included New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg and people from all walks of life who had benefited from her generosity, according to New York TV station WCBS.

Dr. Maria Theodoulou, an oncologist, said of her friend, "An incredible woman, philanthropist -- a loss to all of us, a loss to the community, to society, to everyone."

Ms. Bronfman helped administer the Charles and Andrea Bronfman Philanthropies, which, among other things, contributed US$10-million to establish the Institute for the Study of Canada at McGill University in Montreal.

After the attack on the World Trade Center, she was the driving force behind the Gift From New York, a charity set up to provide free tickets to sporting and cultural events in New York to the families of the victims.

According to yesterday's New York Post, after the accident Ms. Bronfman was able to use her cellphone and call her husband from the ambulance to say she was OK. However, she later died from her injuries in hospital.

© National Post 2006