Helen Lehman Buttenwieser

Mrs. Buttenwieser, who was born in Manhattan, was the daughter of two leading figures of ''our crowd,'' the 100 or so German Jewish families who founded leading banking, securities and retailing empires. Her mother, Adele Lewisohn, was the daughter of Adolph Lewisohn, who made his fortune shipping mining products. Her father was Arthur Lehman of the investment banking family. Her uncle, Herbert H. Lehman, was a New York Governor and a United States Senator from New York. Another uncle, Irving Lehman, was Chief Judge of the State Court of Appeals. Worked in Settlement House After two years at Connecticut College, she left and enrolled at the New York School of Social Work. Then, she worked in child guidance in a settlement house. In 1930, she was appointed to the Board of Child Welfare. She turned to the law when she aspired to a judgeship in what is now Family Court. In 1929, she married Benjamin J. Buttenwieser, a partner in the investment banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Company. In a typical ''our crowd'' twist, one of her husband's partners wed her sister, and the firm later merged with Lehman Brothers, the family firm. She graduated from New York University Law School and became the first woman to work at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore. She left after a year because of the impending birth of a child. She was also a former trustee of the New York Civil Liberties Union, a former board member of the Citizens Committee for Children, a former chairwoman of Madison House, a former president of the New York Federation of Jewish Charities, a former board member of the Legal Defense Fund and a former member of the Mayor's Committee on the Judiciary. She was a donor of Adele Lehman Hall at Barnard College, named for her mother, and was a former trustee of Connecticut College and a former board member of the Columbia University School of Social Work and the Dalton School. Besides her husband, she is survived by a sister, Frances L. Loeb of Manhattan; three sons, Lawrence, of Manhattan, Peter, of Philadelphia, and Paul, of Boston; nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.