Remembrances of Wellesley alums written by family and friends, and the “In Memoriam” list of deceased alumnae.
Carolyn Walter Powell ’43 died on Dec. 9, 2015, in Shrewsbury, Mass.
Carolyn was the proud mother of five children, the first of whom was born when husband Al, a Harvard boy, was overseas during WWII. She devoted her career to teaching—Latin to high-school girls, and, in retirement, tutoring English-as-a-second-language students. Her clan grew to include 16 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. She made every last one feel special and so loved. She was always quietly competent, prim, poised, prepared, and precise. She wrote poems for occasions, acknowledged birthdays, did aerobics to the TV for decades, read the Wall Street Journal daily. She was a classic and an inspiration to many.
Elizabeth “Libby” Williams Nixon ’81
Janice Robinson Daigh ’46, president of the class of ’46, died on Jan. 27 at her home in Corrales, N.M.
Born in New York City, Janice developed her Wellesley geology major into a passion for Southwestern archeology and history, in which fields she became a valued volunteer at the University of New Mexico. She was dedicated to an outdoor life, excelling in track and tennis, and with her husband, Robert, was an active member of two equestrian hunt clubs. In 1976, they rode horseback 1,700 miles, retracing the route of a Spanish explorer. She is survived by three daughters and six grandchildren. She was greatly loved and will be greatly missed.
Phyllis Creighton Danby ’46
Mary Foster Hutchinson ’45
Margaret “Peg” Cogswell ’47 died on Feb. 7.
Peg and I met when we were 10 in Glencoe, Ill., and went through the rest of our school years together, sharing many adventures. After Wellesley, Peg became a social worker in New York and later found her true niche in the art world as an exhibit organizer for an association of American artists. In 1966, she moved to Washington, D.C., to do similar work at what is now called the Smithsonian American Art Museum and stayed there until she retired. In addition to being an artist herself, she loved photography and studied with Ansel Adams in California.
Peg was my oldest, dearest friend, and I shall always miss her.
Florence “Flossie” Billings Crozier ’47
Barbara Jane Olson Hodgkins ’47 died peacefully on Jan. 23.
Barbara lived a creative and honest life, full of integrity, curiosity, and love. As a sculptor, she transformed marble and metal alike into mysterious and energetic forms. She planted fruit trees at her home in Italy for her grandchildren and showed us that even octogenarians can use power tools. She was quick-witted, elegant, and extremely bright—a woman who lived life on her own terms and did so with grace. She is deeply loved and will be missed by many.
Please think of her when you carve, paint, write, or create wonderful things.
Perry Hodgkins Jones ’11, granddaughter
Ina Aronson Hahn ’50 died on Jan. 22.
An icon in the modern dance world, Ina danced her way through Wellesley, performing whenever she could. After college, she danced in the original Broadway productions of Can-Can, The King and I, and Plain and Fancy. Ina became a prize student of Doris Humphrey, whose values and movement principles she cherished. In 1968, Ina and her husband, Herbert, purchased a farm on Cape Ann, Mass., and turned it into Windhover Center for the Performing Arts, which thrives to this day. In her last decade, Ina wrote and produced A New Dance for America: The Choreography, Teachings, and Legacy of Doris Humphrey, which premiered to much acclaim at the Lincoln Center in 2011.
Lisa Hahn, daughter
Ann Haggarty Warren ’50 died on Jan. 6 at her home in Grosse Pointe, Mich.
Ann carried on a brave battle with lymphoma for years but maintained her many interests throughout: A talented pianist, prize-winning gardener, and recognized artist in the Detroit art world. Ann is survived by her devoted daughter, Mary, and her brother and her sister. Her Wellesley memories and friendships were treasured throughout her life.
Martha Haggarty Petrie Bolognini ’54
Helen “Nelson” McKenney Sprey ’51 died on Nov. 26, 2015.
Nelson and I became friends during senior year. In 1965, she moved with her Dutch husband and their three sons next door to us in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where our friendship flourished. She had a fine mind and a passion for reading; for years she commuted weekly between Cleveland and Cambridge, Mass., to attend adult-education literature classes at Harvard. When I moved to England, we exchanged long emails about what we’d been reading; she always had stimulating and original things to say. Her health failed in later years, but she carried on, with the help of her sons. I miss her.
Ellie Rubinstein Weld ’51
Barbara “Babs” Hurff Reimensnyder ’52 died on Feb. 13.
Babs attended Wellesley for several years before transferring to Bucknell College to be near family. She remembered Wellesley fondly and was inspired by her time there.
Babs believed in opportunity, peace, and justice. After a long career as a special-education teacher, she continued to help those with learning needs, from Navajo kids in Arizona to Somali friends seeking a better life. Funny and exuberant, Babs lived life with an open heart and much laughter.
An extraordinary mother, Babs is survived by loving children and grandchildren, husband Fred, and sister Mary Hurff Aladj ’48.
Lynn Plumb
Mary Tierney Selby ’52 died on Nov. 29, 2015.
A Wellesley enthusiast her whole life, she majored in music and education and taught language arts and music for many years in Williamsburg, Va. Mary was a violinist and cofounded the professional Williamsburg Symphonia and the Williamsburg Youth Orchestras, as well as playing in quartets and several other orchestras in the area. She enjoyed travel with her husband, John, and their cottage on the Chesapeake Bay. She reveled in her five grandchildren. No one could rival her passion for music, education, and life.
Hilary Selby Polk ’78
Jean C. Tyler ’61 died on Feb. 3, 2016.
Jeanie retired as director of education and communications from a public-health service in New York, providing prenatal and family-planning care to more than 70,000 low-income women and girls during her tenure. Jean was one of the finest women I have had the privilege of calling my friend. She had humor, spunk, talent, and was a very gracious person.
In her final years, Jean was plagued with a number of physical challenges, but her lovely spirit never left her in spite of pain and difficulties. I don’t know how she did it. I shall always miss her.
Margaret Saunders Barclay ’61
Grace Yap Chan ’62 passed away peacefully on Jan. 27, 2015, following 15 years of a gallant fight against severe stroke-induced disabilities.
She was well cared for at home by her spouse and caregivers. Grace greatly relished her Wellesley experience and was most grateful to receive a four-year full scholarship. After graduation, Grace earned four master’s degrees, in education, biology, business administration, and library science, respectively. Grace is survived by her spouse of 51 years, James C. Chan, in Houston, and is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale, Calif. She will be dearly missed.
James C. Chan
Georgia Palade Van Dusen ’64 died on Jan. 19, 2015, in New York City.
Georgia lived in Severance our freshman year, bringing her love of life and vivacity to our hall. She left Wellesley after freshman year and later went into children’s book publishing, which she found very rewarding. Georgia was creative, making costumes for the Blue Hill Troupe, wedding dresses, and restoring houses. In 1970, Georgia married Derek Van Dusen, and they raised two wonderful daughters, Heather and Hilary. In 55 years of sisterhood, we enjoyed NYC, DC, Maine, and, in later years, traveling to Russia, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Sewing, cooking, or entertaining, Georgia joyfully impacted lives of family and friends.
Caren Ericksen Wilcox ’64
Chesley Duncan Spring ’65 died on Nov. 24, 2015.
Chesley was a political activist, jazz musician, poet, and teacher at Milwaukee Area Technical College and DeVry Technical School. She fought to stop the Vietnam War, increase the rights of families on welfare, and protect young people of color from violence. She started a daycare center in Milwaukee. She organized theater events and poetry slams in Chicago. She rebuilt homes in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. More recently, she brought music and literature back into the lives of senior citizens in Nevada State Prison. She is greatly missed by her daughter, Soibian Spring, and grandchildren, Aero and Oliver Huntsman.
Karen Royster
Nancy Sheiry Glaister ’65 died on Nov. 28, 2015.
We—Nancy’s Bates buddies—can see her sleek head and wide smile still, though we saw her too infrequently since her British husband and her antiquarian book business kept her in London. Restless, energetic, intense, and interested in all manner of things, Nancy loved walking their dog in London’s parks and around their country home, made a mean curried carrot soup, and was a great knitter of complicated patterns. No stranger to difficulties, Nancy nursed her husband through numerous health crises until his death. It was perhaps a blessed release that her acute leukemia diagnosis was followed immediately by cardiac arrest. Be at peace, Nancy.
Carol Watson Nasr ’65
Diane Stewart Pollard ’66 died on Dec. 14, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 45 years, Scott, their daughter, Amina, and son, Almasi. Diane received a Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Chicago and was a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I remember Diane especially for her love of music. We played duets on the piano, enjoyed playing the carillon, and danced in the dorm to the Shirelles and Tina Turner. Diane sensitized me to the plight of southern African-Americans, recounting her experiences driving to Massachusetts from Virginia, having to wait for a bathroom break until reaching New Jersey. My husband and I enjoyed meeting Diane and Scott over the years. She will be missed greatly!
Susan Hallock Klock ’66
Rebecca “Becca” Hartwig ’82 died on Nov. 21, 2015, at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md.
Becca majored in English at Wellesley, spent her junior year at the University of Sussex, and earned a medical degree at Tulane. Becca frequently spoke of the care she received as a teenager after being diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. It was this experience that led her to fulfill her dream of becoming a pediatrician. Her heart was with the vulnerable and the voiceless. Becca was also an accomplished photographer, and recently spent time studying photography in Paris. She was always a proud Wellesley graduate.
Monica Barrett ’82
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