Tributes to Wellesley alumnae by family and friends
Babette Frank Maccoby ’44 died on Jan. 15, 2019, in Oakland, Calif., with her daughter and son by her side.
An English major minoring in education, she worked in student affairs and counseling, and earned a master’s degree at Columbia University, where she met and married sociologist Herbert Maccoby. She was the first woman counselor at Kansas State’s Counseling Center before leaving work to raise their children. Herb and Babette especially loved Northern California and family trips to Yosemite, Carmel, and Monterey. She supported her family and friends with myriad acts of thoughtfulness, kindness, and generosity. She remained close to her Wellesley friends throughout her life and leaves behind three generations of grateful Maccobys.
Gina Maccoby and Matthew Maccoby
Sabine Jessner Sehlinger ’46 died on Nov. 3, 2019.
At Wellesley, Sabine was a French major, a Durant Scholar, the native speaker in the French Corridor, and a Phi Beta Kappa in her junior year. Always loyal to her alma mater, she was a class president and president of the Indianapolis Wellesley Club. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in history at Columbia University. Sabine taught at Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Brooklyn colleges, and for 20 years she was a professor at Indiana University, Indianapolis. She authored a biography of Edouard Heriot, French premier in the 1920s. Sabine and husband Peter, who survives her, lived in Indianapolis and Key Colony Beach, Fla.
Peter Sehlinger, husband
Jean Rowland Haffenreffer ’47 died on June 2, 2019.
Jean was known to her classmates as a rousing leader of Stepsinging and an inspired director of Junior Show. Her passion for music continued, as she became director of both the Boston Opera Company and the Greater Boston Youth Symphony, and a close friend of opera conductor Sarah Caldwell. At home in Nantucket, Sanibel, Fla., and Boston, she was irrepressible: mopeding, playing tennis, choral singing, watercolor painting, and attending Friday symphonies. Together with her husband and their five children, she championed conservation in Nantucket. Other charities, family, friends—so many benefited from Jean’s loving energy.
Elizabeth Backus Desan ’47
Tina Dann St. Clair ’51 died on Oct. 31, 2019.
Tina followed her mother and sister in going to Wellesley but marched to her own drum when there. She enjoyed dressing up and acting—from childhood in operas at camp, to Shakespeare at Wellesley, to Agatha Christie plays in the Cheyenne Little Theater. Maybe acting helped her excel at bridge and mahjong.
This brave woman from New Jersey spent most of her life in Wyoming, where she gave herself wholeheartedly to volunteer work even while raising four children and starting a full-time job when her first went off to college. We remember the twinkle in her eye and love in her heart.
Christie St. Clair Baskett ’82, daughter
Elizabeth Burch Lambros ’52 died on Aug. 19, 2019.
Betty’s friends and family will remember her as energetic, optimistic, and funny; she lifted those around her with her joie de vivre. Betty loved to watch sunsets over Lake Michigan and relished the clear view of the stars in the night sky. In her long life, she played many roles: devoted daughter, sibling, mother, and grandmother; loyal friend; minister’s wife, teacher, librarian, administrator, social worker, and violin and piano teacher. Betty was a proud alumna who cherished the many friends she made at Wellesley and the academic training that piqued her curiosity and prepared her for her life’s journey.
Matthew Christ, son
Joan Eder Moffett ’52 died on Oct. 16, 2019.
It was easy to remember her birthday—April Fool’s Day—but Joan was no fool. She was a Nyack, N.Y., businesswoman and community leader. She managed West Shore Towers for many years and was selected “woman of the year” by the Business and Professional Women’s Club in 1990. Joan served as Nyack’s deputy mayor, was the first woman elected trustee of Nyack, and the first female president of the Nyack Rotary Club. She was on the board of directors of the YMCA, public library, and hospital. She loved her family and Wellesley with an intense loyalty.
Nancy Liberman Ratliff ’52
Eleanor Teel Fischer ’52 died on Aug. 15, 2019.
Eleanor came to Wellesley in our junior year and lived in Cazenove, where we became friends and remained so until her death. She had a keen intelligence, a love of beauty, and a devotion to honesty and good taste. She loved life, raised a daughter, Katherine, and many cats, and pursued her interests in gardening and in playing ancient music with her husband, Henry Fischer. Eleanor had a great sense of humor and was kind and thoughtful and always ready to help those in need. She was a totally admirable person and a best friend to me.
Suzanne Davis Lubell ’52
Mary “Sals” Salisbury Hale ’53 died peacefully on Sept. 12, 2019.
Mary made several close lifelong friends at Wellesley. She has said that the highlight of her Wellesley experience was stumbling into art history, which opened her to different ways of perceiving the world. Mary was “an explorer, not a settler,” and was open and curious about world events, other people, and her own inner process. Mary was a key supporter of the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, especially its LIPPI program to develop leadership skills in women. This was one expression of her lifelong road from an era when women were often considered second rate, to fully valuing the feminine in herself.
Molly Hale, daughter
Marilyn Koenick Yalom ’54 died on Nov. 20, 2019.
A prolific feminist writer and cultural historian, with an illustrious teaching career, Marilyn published more than 15 books, translated into many languages. She was a founder of Stanford’s Institute for Research on Women and Gender. In 2013, Wellesley honored her with an Alumnae Achievement Award. Her enthusiasm for French literature and culture began during her junior year studies in Paris. The salon tradition she created in her Wellesley dorm room continued in California with writers and scholars, many of whom she mentored over the years. Those in her global orbit feel blessed to have been part of her inclusive sisterhood.
Lia Gelin Poorvu ’56
Beth Smith Horton ’56 died on Aug. 5, 2019.
It’s always a shock to lose a lifelong friend. Beth and I were classmates from fourth through 12th grade, and again at Wellesley. Her awesome intellect and love of words were gifts she shared as a teacher of children and with friends and classmates via rhymes in reunion record books. In 2011, she advised us all to honor Dr. Seuss’ message in Horton Hatches the Egg: to always have empathy and endurance and to keep an ethical compass. How timely. Thanks, Beth.
Lucy Fowler Klug ’56
Marsha Cohen Roth ’61 died on Sept. 8, 2019.
The remaining members of the 1961 Freeman penthouse treasure Marsha’s memory. As gentle and sweet as she was, Marsha was also disciplined and determined. At Wellesley, she became quite scholarly, excited about Chaucer and Shakespeare, inspired by Far Eastern art with Dean Frisch, and then temporarily veering a bit off course during the candidacy of John F. Kennedy.
Marsha was the center of our small community in that aerie. She brought strength as well as joy to all our lives.
Ellie Toaz Neuhasuer ’61
Patty Ryan Pytte ’61
Emilie Doring Marcikic ’61
E. Tracy Gallagher Gray ’65 died on July 16, 2019.
Tracy was funny, brilliant (Phi Bete, art history), self-contained, kind, sometimes anxious, and a thorough realist. Foremost among her gifts was an exquisite, take-no-prisoners sense of black humor, delivered deadpan, with a low chuckle and without malice. We were NYC roommates, Munger refugees, sharing Scotch, roaches, Vietnam, and unsuitable suitors until Charles Gray swept her off to Dallas. She joined his law practice, raised a son, Charles, Jr., befriended a stepdaughter, became a grandmother, then was widowed. She was finally brought down by a series of health mishaps—excellent fodder for her humor. She was stronger than she knew. Tracy is survived by her family.
Nan Chrystal Thorpe ’65
Abby Herring Aisenberg ’73 died on Sept. 30, 2019, from ovarian cancer.
My mom majored in art history at Wellesley before going on to get a bachelor of fine arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. For several years, she had a successful faux-finishing business with her best friend in Providence, R.I., before her long battle with chronic illness.
After her eventual recovery, she sadly couldn’t return to her career because of extreme chemical sensitivities. But she continued to paint and create for the rest of her life. Our home was always filled with color and beauty. To this day, I cannot imagine a life in the confines of white walls. Her legacy is love.
Jenny Aisenberg, daughter
Danielle Rice ’73 died on Sept. 12, 2019, after a long battle with ovarian cancer. She was 68.
A nationally renowned museum executive, Danielle was executive director of the Delaware Art Museum from 2005 to 2013. At her death, she was director of Drexel University’s master of science program in museum leadership.
I remember her as a dear friend who gave me one of her paintings freshman year and, when we turned 50, took me to tour the Louvre.
She is survived by her beloved husband of 25 years, Jeffrey Berger; daughter Marcelle Aviva Rice; stepdaughter Nora Quinn; stepson Alex Berger; and three grandchildren.
Julie Paulson ’73
Eleanor MacKinnon Hochanadel CE/DS ’83 died on Oct. 18, 2019.
This world lost a beautiful soul of love and light when Eleanor passed at the age of 94. After raising a family, she took on the daunting task of returning to college in her 50s. She graduated from Wellesley in 1983 magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and a Durant Scholar. Please go to the website of Bartlett Funeral Home at www.bartlett1620.com to see the full obituary with photos of my beloved mother.
Deborah Ann Hochanadel ’78, daughter
Shannon Hartman, who was a writer in the Office of the President for 15 years, died on Oct. 8, 2019, at the age of 80. Upon her retirement from Wellesley, she was made an honorary alumna.
Shannon is survived by her husband, Bill, three sons, two granddaughters, three step-grandchildren, and four step-great-grandchildren. During their 57 years of marriage, Shannon and Bill lived in Santiago and Valparaiso, Chile; Berlin and Frankfurt, Germany; Zurich, Switzerland; Los Angeles; and Weston, Mass.
Shannon was an avid participant in tennis, golf, cross-country, and downhill skiing. While in Weston, Shannon was also active in different roles at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and Weston Garden Club.
Bill Hartman, husband
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