Polish maid who battled for elderly heir’s $500m fortune dies

She was a Polish farmer’s daughter who emigrated to the United States, a maid who worked for a wealthy American heir, a third wife who inherited much of the Johnson & Johnson fortune after a sensational court battle with her six stepchildren.

Barbara Piasecka Johnson, the widow of J Seward Johnson Sr, heir to millions made from bandages, baby oil and pharmaceutical products, has died at age 76.

Johnson was best known for a nasty legal battle after her husband’s 1983 death, a feud that pitted her against his six children from two previous marriages. She largely prevailed, emerging with about $300m (€233m) from a fortune worth more than $500m.