Eileen Slocum, R.I. Republican, dies .

NEWPORT, R.I., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Eileen Gillespie Slocum, a pillar of the Republican establishment in Rhode Island, has died at the age of 92.

Her daughter, Margy Quinn, told The New York Times that Slocum, who suffered a stroke last year, died of pneumonia Sunday in Newport, R.I., where she lived.

Slocum was born and grew up in New York but on her mother's side she was descended from a leading Rhode Island family, the Browns. At 17, she became engaged to John Jacob Astor V, creating a scandal when she changed her mind two days before she was to marry him.

In 1940, she married John Jermain Slocum, who became a diplomat after World War II. In the 1960s, the couple settled in the Newport mansion she inherited from an aunt.

After her husband's retirement in the 1970s, Slocum was free to take a part in politics. She hosted fundraisers for U.S. President Gerald Ford and others at her home and served as Rhode Island's Republican committee woman from 1992 until a few months ago. Her son, John J. Slocum Jr., told the Times she had been planning to attend this year's Republican convention.

Slocum is survived by another daughter, Beryl Powell, ex-wife of Adam Clayton Powell III, 11 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.