Showgirl-turned-philanthropist Barbara Sinatra, singer Frank’s fourth wife, dies aged 90

Barbara Sinatra, the fourth wife of legendary singer Frank Sinatra and a prominent children’s advocate and philanthropist who raised millions of dollars to help abused youngsters, died Tuesday. She was 90.

Sinatra died of natural causes at her Rancho Mirage, California, home surrounded by family and friends, said John Thoresen, director of the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center.

With her husband’s help, she founded a non-profit center in Rancho Mirage in 1986 to provide therapy and other support to young victims of physical, sexual and emotional abuse.

In the years since, Thoresen said, more than 20,000 children have been treated at the centre and hundreds of thousands more worldwide through videos it provides.

A former model and Las Vegas showgirl, Barbara Sinatra was a prominent Palm Springs socialite in her own right before she married her husband in 1976, when he was 60 and she 49. They remained wed until his death at 82 in 1998.

It was her third marriage, Sinatra’s fourth and the most enduring union for both.