Sills, right, with Opera Pacific supporter Carole Follman at a 1998 fund-raising luncheon in Newport Beach. (Glenn Koenig / LAT)
In her later years, Sills -- shown here in 2004 -- served in the volunteer post of chairman of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. (Bryan Bedder / Getty Images)
Sills at a ceremony at the Metropolitan Opera in January 2006. (Mary Altaffer / AP)
