All posts by hstauder

Esta Smith Busi ’55

Esta Smith Busi passed away peacefully on June 9, 2026 surrounded by her loving family in her Northampton home after vibrantly living with stage 4 pancreatic cancer for two years.

Born in Springfield October 25,1937, Esta moved to Northampton at age 11. She attended the Northampton School for Girls, then graduated from Smith College with a BA in Russian Literature and moved to New York City. There she married Meary James Thurairajah Tambinmuttu in 1960 where her eldest and only daughter Shakuntala Tambimuttu was born in 1962. In 1965, Esta moved back to Northampton and earned an MA in Education from UMASS Amherst. Esta then worked as a high school teacher in Milton, MA, marrying Professor Frederick Allen Busi in 1967. Together they took root in Northampton in 1968 and welcomed Andre-Issac Umberto Busi in 1969. After having Emile-Albert Abraham Busi in 1972, Esta obtained her realtor’s license and worked at a number of real estate companies for multiple decades. While doing this, Esta was active in the League of Women Voters and the Congregation B’nai Israel as President of the sisterhood, as well as President of the Board of Directors and President of Hadassah, while also cooking and serving the Senior lunches at CBI while she was able.

Esta loved to sing with her powerful voice and was a regular stage presence in the Valley Light Opera, Berkshire Choral Festival and in her own kitchen with friends and family.

She always enjoyed showing off her encyclopedic knowledge of all the hits of the 20th century. Throughout her life, Esta had several rescue dog companions, which kept her extremely physically active right up until the very end of her life, walking for hours in the “dog park” where she would add to the friends she would regularly host at her house.

She is predeceased by her parents Sarah and Louis Smith and brother Robert Smith.

She is survived by her brothers Perry and Brian Smith, her three children and six grandchildren.

The Ascher-Zimmerman Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Rosemary A. Thurber ’49

Rosemary “Rosie” Adams Thurber, 94, ever in search of a peaceable kingdom, died in the company of her loving family at Laurel Oaks of South Haven, Michigan, on June 8, 2026. She was a lifelong advocate for the common good of creatures great and small.

Rosie was born in New York City on October 7, 1931, to James Grover Thurber and Althea Adams Thurber. She grew up in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, and Cambridge and Amherst, Massachusetts, graduating from the Northampton School for Girls in 1949 and from the University of Pennsylvania in 1953 with a liberal arts degree. At age seventeen she dreamed of being an actor, and it was as a member of the Pennsylvania Players college theater group that she met her future husband, Frederick W. Sauers. They married in Philadelphia and settled in Chicagoland, raised three children, and were married for twenty years. Rosie was active onstage at the Theatre of Western Springs and co-founded a theater troupe that performed for children. She returned to school in her forties, earned a master’s degree in social work at Washington University in St. Louis, then moved to South Haven to live alongside her treasured Lake Michigan.

Rosie worked in support of peace, social justice, the environment, and the arts, often through her associations with the Episcopal Church of the Epiphany and the South Haven Center for the Arts, where she was board president and for years shepherded the July South Haven Art Fair. She was a longtime member of the church, served on the vestry, and found a great source of strength and wisdom in God’s way and through healing prayer. Rosie loved visits from her family, partying with friends, her evening Manhattan, good conversation, and making her point-you wanted her on your side.

As the only child of a celebrated writer and cartoonist, Rosie found her life touched in exceptional ways. Working with publishers, authors, performers, and literary organizations, she guided her father’s literary estate and legacy as a humorist with care and a keen editorial sense. She was a supporting founder of the Thurber House literary center and museum in Columbus, Ohio. Her father dedicated The Last Flower to her in 1939, writing, “For Rosemary, in the wistful hope that her world will be better than mine.” She will now hold that hope for all of us.

Rosie’s survivors include her children, Sara Thurber Sauers (Mike Lewis-Beck) and Greg Thurber Sauers (Mary); her grandchildren, Adam G. Sauers (Olivia Dellios) and Elizabeth A. Valtman (Chris); two great-grandchildren, Adeline and Zoey Valtman; her sister, Linda A. Gilmore; and a nephew and niece, Tim and Zoë Fothergill. She was preceded in death by her son Mark Thurber Sauers; her parents; her stepmother, Helen W. Thurber; and her fondly remembered childhood stepfather, Francis B. Comstock.

A celebration of life is planned for the early fall. Memorial donations may be made to the Church of the Epiphany, Al-Van Humane Society, or the South Haven Center for the Arts.

Ethelbert J.L. Cooper ’70

Ethelbert “Bert” J.L. Cooper, passed away on May 22, 2026, following a prolonged illness.

Ethelbert Julius Llewellyn Cooper, Jr. was born unto the union of E.J. Llewellyn Cooper, Sr. and Isabel Eugenia Simpson Cooper on February 27th, 1954, at the Maternity Center Hospital in Monrovia, Liberia.

Bert was raised in the knowledge and nurture of the Lord by his parents, and he was confirmed at the Trinity Pro-Cathedral Church in Monrovia. For his elementary education, he attended the Monrovia Demonstration School, and the Methodist Elementary School, in Sinkor, Monrovia. Bert enrolled at the College of West Africa (CWA) in Monrovia in 1965 as a 7th grader. He remained at CWA up until the 9th grade, when in 1967 he matriculated for studies abroad at the Williston Academy in Easthampton, Massachusetts, USA.

Bert graduated high school from Williston in 1970 and was accepted into Yale University at New Haven, Connecticut for his college education. At Yale, he was a member of Silliman Residential College, and he also was a member of the Society of Book and Snake.

Bert completed his coursework for a BA in Economics and graduated from Yale in 1974. It is noteworthy to state that Bert completed his degree in 3 and half years and immediately returned home to Liberia in December 1973 to commence his professional career. He was so committed to his career, that he saw the formality of the graduation exercises in May 1974 as something he could skip and remained at work in Liberia.

Bert was recruited by the Liberian government out of college to help establish a new public corporation, The Liberia Development Corporation (LDC). He was appointed to the role of Assistant Managing Director, a position in which he served from 1974-1975. In 1975, he was hired to be the Special Assistant to the Minister of Labor, Youth and Sports. He was later promoted to become the Assistant Minister for Administration, the principal operating official of the Ministry.

Bert married Caroline Bendu Smythe on December 1st, 1977, and from this union they had three daughters Michele Bendu, Tanya Diane and Natasha Elena.

Bert decided to leave government and to go into the private sector in 1977, whereupon he embarked on a very successful career as a businessman. He either founded, was instrumental in establishing, or was the principal Liberian shareholder at Uiterwyk Shipping Lines, West African Shipping Lines, West Africa Timber Lines, Xerox Liberia, and Africa Investment Company (“AFINCO”).

Bert became a leading expert straddling the intersection of government and the international private sector in Liberia’s iron ore industry. This had its roots when he was appointed as adviser to the Liberian Minister of Finance, in the Minister’s role as a Chairman of the LAMCO Joint Venture (“LJV”), the country’s largest iron ore project. The LJV was created in the 1960s under a partnership between prominent Swedish interests, America’s second-ranking steel producer, Bethlehem Steel and the host government. When established in the 1960s, the LJV was Africa’s largest foreign investment project (equivalent value in today’s terms, in excess of US$4 billion). Bert’s activities as the Chairman’s adviser put him into regular contact with the LJV’s Swedish and American owners and nurtured on his part an in-depth knowledge of the global seaborne iron ore sector, and its impact on, and future growth potential for Liberia.

After the violent military coup that destabilized the nation of Liberia in 1980, Bert moved his family to Reston, Virginia in the USA, and after arriving as political refugees, proceeded to start his business activities from scratch. Harking back to his unique expertise in the Liberian iron ore sector, Bert formed a US company, ICB (America) Inc. in McLean, VA which worked closely with senior management of the then Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, PA and in 1984 organized the friendly transfer of Bethlehem’s interest in the LAMCO JV iron ore mining project to a new vehicle company owned by the Government of Liberia (named “Liminco”), and in overseeing the subsequent management of this LJV component company.

In 1986, Bert moved his primary personal residence to London, UK, since the business facilities in Europe were more conducive to Bert’s career-long focus on African natural resources projects. However, throughout most of the intervening period, he maintained part-time residences in the US, either in Northern Virginia or in New York City.

In 1988-89, Bert proceeded to organize the transfer of the last remaining foreign interest in the LJV (Granges Mining/Electrolux AB of Sweden) to Liminco, putting the full management and ownership of the project under local Liberian control. In the era of Liminco ownership, Bert oversaw the arrangement of the company’s financial and ore-marketing activities. Post transfer, he was responsible for full management of the entire LJV asset (8mtpa), and its work force of 3,000 people (ore mining, processing, transportation, marketing, and overall project administration and relationships with suppliers).

Bert was a veteran entrepreneur in the international natural resources sector, but he was also an important sponsor of academic, artistic and social endeavors relating to the African continent.

His skills in project development and his equally broad capital markets experience provided a unique combination of expertise for his preferred African focus. In the 1980s and early 1990s, Bert played the central role in the reorganization of the iron ore sector of his country of birth, Liberia. More recently, he has planned and implemented large-scale iron ore initiatives in Liberia, Cameroon, and Guinea.

In the oil & gas sector, during the early 2000s, Bert founded a London Stock Exchange (LSE) listed petroleum company that attained a market value of nearly US$3 billion and was active in twelve countries. He also led and brought to fruition Europe’s pioneering LNG (gas)-to electric power project.
His strong engagement, reputation and accomplishments in the oil and gas and iron ore sectors of West and Central Africa will be longstanding.

With over 35 years of experience in the African natural resources sector, Bert was involved in a wide range of other highly successful ventures, including present innovative new African international bond-placement and oil and LNG projects. During the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath, he devised initiatives that proactively sought to counter the relevant economic and social dislocations.

Bert was a generous supporter of several institutions both within Liberia and internationally. In Liberia he has supported the Episcopal Church of Liberia, specifically the Trinity Cathedral Church in Monrovia (his home church in Liberia), where he donated a church organ in memory of his family. In 2013, Bert fully paid for the purchase and installation of a new main organ at the Trinity Cathedral in Monrovia, Liberia. He also supported the Episcopal Church’ Bromley School for Girls in Virginia, Liberia, by establishing a Computer Science Laboratory and providing other financial assistance in the memory of his mother – who both attended and taught at the school.

As a graduate and distinguished alumnus of Yale University, Bert was the founding donor of Yale’s first scholarship program for African students, and he was a member of the Yale President’s Council on International Activities.

At Harvard University, Bert was the founding sponsor of a Gallery of African & African American Art on the university’s campus, an advisory board member of the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research, and a recipient of Harvard’s prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois medal for outstanding work in the field of African and African American Studies.

Bert was also a Patron of the Awareness Foundation, an international peace-building charity in the United Kingdom, alongside its Chief Patron, HRH, the Duchess of Wessex.

Bert was a family treasure, a precious son, devoted husband, loving father, amazing brother, supportive uncle, faithful family man, and generous friend. We are grateful for the time we had with this incredible man, our family champion!

Bert’s memory will always be a blessing. He was an outstanding leader, visionary, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who touched many lives with his compassion and generosity. He was preceded in death by his parents, E.J. Llewellyn Cooper Sr. and Isabel Simpson Cooper Norris, his Aunt Eupheme Weeks (Rocheforte), Aunt Cynthia Kamara (Samba), and his sister Emma Gloria Cooper Holder. He is survived by his wife, Caroline Bendu, daughters, Michele Cooper Elisio (Nico), Tanya Cooper Mathieu, Natasha Cooper Rio D’Oria (Luca), grandchildren Caricie Mathieu, Lemuel Mathieu, and Roman Rio D’Oria; his siblings, Patience Cooper Saines (Terry), Joy Cooper Burnette (Emmette), Juliet Cooper Allen (Hank), Daubeny B. Cooper III (Anita), Angelique Cooper McGlotten (Kyle), Isabel Cooper Mendy (Pierre), Aunt Trypetus Padmore, Uncle Gerald Cooper (Roberta), Uncle Randolph Cooper (Eudeen), Uncle Seward Cooper (Anne), and a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, and many, many cousins.

In London, Bert and his family worship at Holy Trinity Church in Sloane Square.

We will surely miss Bert, but we take heart because we believe the scripture that says, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” ( 2 Corinthians 5:8). He can now rejoice in the presence of our heavenly Father with the family who has gone before.

“Our family chain is broken, and nothing seems the same; but as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again!”
(Ron Tranmer)

David T. Hunn ’62

David T. Hunn, age 82, passed away peacefully on June 3rd, 2026, at his home in Brunswick, NY. David was born January 20th, 1944, to Dr. David Edward and Janet Lohnes Walker Hunn. He was the 4th generation on his mother’s side to live in Brunswick.

He was raised in Troy, attended Troy Schools, Trinity Pawling School, and Williston Academy, and graduated from Hamilton College in 1967. He served in the Navy as a photojournalist, producing photo stories used worldwide. David also used his photo skills as an official sports car photographer for Lime Rock Race Track, the 12 Hours of Sebring (FL), and many other sports car tracks. His scenic photographs of Nantucket appeared in national calendars, including Cape Cod Life.

Following military service, he joined General Electric’s Power Systems as a marketing communications project manager, writing and producing for print, video, speech support, and trade shows. He particularly enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. for location photos and trade shows. In 1999, he moved to the NYS Department of Corrections, Corcraft, to produce marketing materials, visiting most maximum security correctional facilities. In 2005, he worked directly for the Commissioner and the Executive Deputy Commissioner as project manager for the Department’s first exhibit building at the NYS Fair.

He was active in Troy community affairs, having served on the Boards of Oakwood Cemetery (serving as President for several years), Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway, and Country Club of Troy. He was a long-time parishioner of St. John’s Episcopal Church, where he served on the Vestry and was Junior and Senior Warden. He led the church property committee for over twenty years, overseeing capital and historical restoration projects as well as repairs and maintenance.

He was known for his sharp sense of humor, which helped him in difficult times, including cancer surgery, which left him with a laryngectomy in 2005. His pride, joy, and love were for his family. He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Florence (Sonie) Urban Hunn, and sons David (Lauren), Henry (Shannon), and his four grandchildren, Sadie, Violet, Emersen, and Henry, two siblings, Martha Hunn Wilmot (Don) of Granby, CT, and Robert Hunn (Ginny) of South Portland, ME.

A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 146 First Street, Troy, at a time to be announced. Donations may be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church Properties Fund, 146 First Street, Troy, NY 12180, or Vanderheyden Hall Memorial Fund, PO Box 219, Wynantskill, NY 12198, or Oakwood Cemetery, Head of 101st Street, Troy, NY 12180.

Donald J. Rosensweig ’51

Donald J. Rosensweig, 92, of Lititz, PA formerly of Cromwell and Newington, CT, died peacefully with his family by his side on May 20, 2026. Don was born in New Britain, CT and graduated from Williston Academy Preparatory School in 1951. After graduation, he went on to further his education at Fordham University, graduating in 1955. Don then served in the US Navy for two years and soon after found employment at the New Britain Machine Company and married, Anne D. (Donnelly) Rosensweig, the love of his life in 1961. After working at New Britain Machine Company, Don launched out into the industrial supply business for ten years. Desiring a change of field, Don entered the real estate business, and became an appraiser for a large appraisal company. Subsequently, he joined the trust real estate department at the Connecticut Bank and Trust Company, now known as Bank of America. Donald became a vice president of this department. Don was a member of St. James Church in Lititz, PA and was also member of St. John’s Church in Cromwell, CT. He and his wife Anne often prepared meals and served them to the homeless.

Don also loved to travel and made several trips to Europe with his wife Anne. Cape Cod was also a favorite vacation spot. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather and will be missed dearly. He was also a big fan of the UConn Huskies Women’s basketball team and the Boston Red Sox. Don was known for his generosity, quick wit and dry sense of humor. He brought laughter to many.

Don is survived by his daughters, Linda Musarra of Miami, Florida, Ellen Harpel and her husband Todd Harpel of Lititz, PA, his son, Kurt Rosensweig and his wife Carolyn Rosensweig of Newington, CT, his grandchildren Christopher and Matthew Musarra, and Ian and Reid Harpel. He was predeceased by his wife Anne Rosensweig, father Clarence Rosensweig, mother Helen Rosensweig, brother Robert Rosensweig, and his identical twin brother Clarence Rosensweig, Jr ’51.

Funeral services for Donald will be held on Friday, (May 29th), with a visitation from 9:00-10:00am at the Farrell Funeral Home, 110 Franklin Sq. New Britain, a Mass of Christian Burial will follow at 10:30am at Annunciation Parish (St. Mary Church) 626 Willard Ave, Newington. Entombment will follow in St. Mary Cemetery, 1141 Stanley St. New Britain. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Heart Association PO Box 840692 Dallas, TX 75284.

Samuel P. Hull ’52

Samuel Prentiss Hull, Jr., beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and friend, died on June 12, 2025 after a brief illness, at Maine Medical Center in Portland, at the age of ninety and will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Sam was born in Rocky Hill, CT on September 14th,1934 to Samuel Prentiss Hull and Hazel Woodman Hull. He was a graduate of Grafton (MA) High School, Williston Academy, Dartmouth College, and University of Connecticut (MBA).

Sam married Nancy Fryer Williams in 1956 and moved to Liberal, Kansas where he worked for the Panhandle Eastern Oil Company as a petroleum field geologist. Together they had three wonderful sons. Sam spent the 1960s working for the Mobil Oil Corporation in New York, St. Louis, and Casper, WY. In 1969, he moved with his family to Hong Kong, then a British Crown colony, where he worked for Burns and Roe. In Hong Kong, he joined both the American Club and the Foreign Correspondents Club, where he remained a member for 30 years.

Sam continued with power project development at Chas T Main, Dravo and Gibbs and Hill, travelling widely throughout Asia and the Pacific rim, the Middle East, and the Horn of Africa, and eventually developing his own company, PowerTec.

In the early 1990s, seeking work closer to friends and family, Sam left behind international travel and began a new career as a Certified Financial Planner and founded Northstar Financial Planning where he helped many navigate the complexities of life and finance. At 76 years old Sam, ever learning, exploring, and growing, became a Life Coach

In 1986, Sam married Joan Rosalie Stygles on the Schooner Adventure in Camden ME, a partnership that would inspire many adventures. Together, they made their home in New York City before moving to Bedford, NH, where they began wonderful traditions of Magical family Christmas Eve celebrations and annual Cousin Camp adventures for their grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. They moved to Arundel in 2007, and Sam soon became deeply involved in his new adopted home where he made many new friends of all ages. Sam’s marriage to Joan also brought him into the Stygles family, where he was welcomed by her parents and five sisters and their husbands.

Sam was a lifelong lover of sailing, skiing, running (member of the Boston Barley Hoppers), cycling (served as president of the Charles River Wheelmen), and outdoor adventure. At 79 years-old, he discovered another passion-long-distance walking. He and Joan completed walks of hundreds of miles in England and Italy; in Spain, they walked the Camino de Santiago, the ancient pilgrim trail. To commemorate that achievement, Sam got his first tattoo, the traditional scallop shell that is a symbol of the pilgrimage. He served on the American Pilgrims on the Camino Board of Directors and inspired many to set out on their own Camino journey. At the time of his death, he and Joan were planning another trek in England.

Sam believed in giving back and was an active member of the community. He served on the Kennebunk Free Library Board of Directors, Arundel Economic Development Committee, and Sam was one of the founders and Directors of the Arundel Conservation Trust, building community through conservation.

Sam continued to live life to the fullest, mentoring, and inspiring others, celebrating his 90th birthday surrounded by family and friends, where he shared his poem “Don’t Let the Old Man In” and the wise words:

“… And dear friends, both old and new, remind me that saying “Yes!” to life, Usually yields to fresh viewpoints and new adventures ahead.”

In addition to his loving wife Joan, Sam is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Hume of Walnut Creek, CA; by his three sons and their spouses, Stephen Prentiss Hull (Ania Prawdzik) of Albuquerque, NM, John Andrew Hull (Susan Braden) of Branford, CT, and Matthew Williams Hull (Tanya Fagaly) of St Louis, MO; by his four grandchildren, Justin Hull (Jess Nadel) and Charles Hull of New York City, and Daphne and Colin Hull of St. Louis; and by his three great-grandchildren, Rowan, Shoshana, and Julia Hull of New York City and his many loving nieces and nephews. Besides his family and extended family, he will be dearly missed by his many friends of all ages near and far, and by Clancy, his six-year-old Golden Retriever.

There will be a celebration of Sam’s life held on Sunday, August 17, 2025 from 2:00PM – 4:30PM at the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust, 57 Gravelly Brook Road, Kennebunkport, ME.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations may be sent to the Arundel Conservation Trust at arundeltrust.org or the American Friends on the Camino at americanpilgrims.org

Jarlath W. Crowe ’69

Jarlath William Crowe, 78, of Berlin, MA passed peacefully in his sleep, April 12, 2026, at St. Mary Health Care Center, in Worcester, MA.

Born February 23, 1948 in Rochester, NY, to Dr. Thomas Crowe and Frances Crowe (nee Hyde), where his father was in residency in radiology at Strong Memorial Hospital. His father had previously served as a doctor in the US Army during WWII.

The family moved to Hartford, CT where it was discovered that Jarlath was deaf. His parents decided that Jarlath would be trained in the oral method with the residual hearing that he had. His mother, Frances, took a course at the John Tracy Clinic in California to train Jarlath, having taken his sister and grandmother along for the ride in a Douglas DC-4 propeller plane.

To continue the oral method, his parents selected Clarke School for the Deaf in Northampton, MA where he met Rebecca, who would later become his wife.

Jarlath continued at Clarke School until he was 12, and later graduated from Williston Academy in Easthampton MA. He attended RIT in Rochester, NY, where they had a new program: NTID (National Technical Institute for the Deaf). He earned an associate degree in Biology and a degree in social sciences.

He was an avid fisherman and liked to tie fishing flies. He loved to fish off the Cape Cod canal with friends. His other great love was skiing, having been a proud member of the Deaf Olympic team and skied for USA in college.

He worked for the US Fish & Wildlife Service for 30 years, at fish hatcheries in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. His son Patrick was born in 1981 and Jarlath raised Patrick as a single father until 1993.

In 1993 he married Rebecca Wathen-Dunn and they lived in Sheffield, MA, briefly before moving to Foxboro, MA. He loved hiking with Rebecca and their dog Nina at the nearby F. Gilbert Mills State Forest. After 28 years in Foxboro, they moved to Berlin, MA in 2022.

Jarlath is survived by his wife of 32 years, Rebecca Wathen-Dunn; his son Patrick and two grandchildren in California; step-son Ian Baker in Virginia; his sister Caltha of Colorado; brother Tom in Oregon; and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service and celebration of life are being planned, details will be announced.

Judith M. Doane ’51

Judith M. Doane, 92, a lifelong Marblehead resident, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026, at Salem Hospital. She was the daughter of the late Mortimer Holden Doane and Elizabeth Mary Green Doane.

For many years, Judy devoted her professional life to teaching. Beginning in preschool classrooms and continuing throughout her career. She also loved her work with children with special needs—an endeavor that reflected her deep love of children.

Judy also had a lifelong love of music and the theater. In her earlier years, she enjoyed acting and dancing on stage, pursuits that brought her great joy. An avid reader, she also found great pleasure in books and in listening to classical music.

A lover of nature, Judy found beauty in every season. She delighted in the promise of spring, the warmth of summer breezes and the quiet beauty of falling snow. Autumn, with its deep colors and peaceful stillness, was especially dear to her.

Judy nurtured lasting friendships with coworkers, neighbors and all those fortunate enough to know her. She valued connection deeply and cherished the relationships she built over a lifetime.

A familiar and beloved presence in town, Judy was a daily early-morning regular at the Muffin Shop, where she and her friends gathered to catch up on local happenings. She was always quick to share her observations, delivered with her dry wit and sweet, infectious laugh.

Judy is survived by her nephews, Michael Doane of Aiken, S.C., Eric Doane of Savannah, Ga. and her niece, Leslie Doane of Falls Church, Va.

Service information: A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m. at Eustis & Cornell of Marblehead, 142 Elm St., with light refreshments and fellowship to follow.

Jean (Young) Harrison ’52

Jean Young Harrison, aged 91, passed away on April 14th, 2026, following complications from a fall. A resident since 2021 of The Bridges at Warwick in Jamison, Pa., and a longtime former resident of Washington D.C., she was married for 47 years to Earl G. Harrison, Jr., who died in 2003. She is survived by Dana and Stephanie Harrison, their children Abigail and Niko Harrison, and by Colin and Kathryn Harrison and their children Sarah, Walker, and Julia Harrison. She is also survived by her late sister Katherine McCaw’s four children, Bill McCaw, Alleyne Coleman, Kelly Greiner, and Mary McCaw and their large extended families.

Born Jean Spencer Young on December 4, 1934, in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in Texas, in New Orleans, and Massachusetts. In the summers, she enjoyed camps in the Northeast, where she canoed and sailed. A graduate of the Northampton School for Girls, she matriculated to Bryn Mawr College, where she earned a B.A. in philosophy in 1956. She later earned an M.A. in theater arts at Villanova University.

Jean Harrison’s greatest interest was in theater, and she passionately pursued this vocation in professional off-Broadway roles in New York City, in regional and summer stock productions in the Northeast, and in Philadelphia, where she was a co-founder in 1974 of The Philadelphia Company (now known as The Philadelphia Theatre Company), a troupe that put on plays ranging from Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” to new plays by rising playwrights. She also directed and played roles in Philadelphia Company productions, at the Hedgerow Theater in Rose Valley, Pa., and at Westtown School, where her husband was the headmaster. In her later years she played in productions in Washington, D.C., including in the Kennedy Center, and Baltimore, and served as a private voice coach.

Jean Harrison’s life was marked by her long participation in the theatrical community. She spent decades acting, directing, and raising money for theater organizations. She was known for her graciousness and generosity, her ability to laugh (often at herself), and her wide interest in culture. Her sons enjoyed teasing her and she put up with this with patience and humor. With her late husband, Earl Harrison, she travelled to China, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. She also took each of her granddaughters—Sarah, Abigail, and Julia Harrison—on separate trips to England. Hers was a life well lived, and she will be missed.

Services will be private.