LuEsther Turner Mertz (December 30, 1905, in Cincinnati, Ohio – February 5, 1991, in Port Washington, New York) was a businesswoman and philanthropist.
In 1953, LuEsther and her husband, Harold Mertz, along with their daughter, Joyce, founded Publishers Clearing House.
Over the years, Publishers Clearing House grew from an initial mailing of 10,000 letters to a marketing legend.
In 1980, Dennis Murphy and Paul Ehrlich of the Center for Conservation Biology named a subspecies of the Edith's checkerspot butterfly, Euphydryas editha luestherae, in her honor.
[2] Since her death in 1991, aged 85, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust has contributed to core programs at the New York Botanical Garden in horticulture, science, and visitor services, as well as to the construction of the Garden Cafe and Terrace Room, an important visitor amenity that opened in 1997.