Wilma Engel Messing, longtime major philanthropist and benefactor to numerous causes, organizations and groups in the general and Jewish communities, died Monday, March 10, 2008, at her home in Westwood Village, of congestive heart failure. She was 88.

Among her many activities, Mrs. Messing was a member of the national board and president of the St. Louis Section of the National Council of Jewish Women. In 1990, NCJW gave her its Hannah G. Solomon Award in recognition of her many years of volunteer community service and support.

Mrs. Messing’s late husband, Roswell “Bud” Messing, the retired chairman of World Color Press, died in 1988. The couple jointly supported numerous causes and projects. As members of the Associates of the St. Louis University Libraries, the couple funded what is now called the St. Louis Literary Award, given annually to noted writers. Among the recipients have been Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams and Eudora Welty.

Mrs. Messing helped many young people over the years who were seeking an education. After years of vacationing in Acapulco, Mexico, she and her husband befriended employees working at a hotel there. Mrs. Messing, known to them as “Mama Willi,” helped several families send their children and grandchildren to private schools and colleges.

Mrs. Messing was recognized as a St. Louis Woman of Achievement by the old St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1967, and received the St. Louis Crisis Nursery Woman of the Year Award in 2006.

At Mary Institute Country Day School, Mrs. Messing started a number of projects, including the Wilma Jean Messing Library, in memory of her daughter, who was killed in a horseback riding accident at age 14.

She and her husband also funded the Roswell and Wilma Messing Cultural Arts and Education Department of the Jewish Community Center. She was a member of United Hebrew Congregation.

Mrs. Messing was a member of the Daniel Webster Society at Webster University, which named her an honorary alum in 1996.

Funeral services were held last week at United Hebrew Congregation. Burial was at New Mount Sinai Cemetery.

Among the survivors are a son, Russ Messing of Healdsburg, Calif.; a daughter, Noel Hefty of Lafayette, Colo.; four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to the National Council of Jewish Women, St. Louis Section, 8350 Delcrest Drive, St. Louis, Mo. 63124; or the St. Louis Crisis Nursery, 6150 Oakland Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. 63139.