Eleanor Reed Alter

ALTER, Eleanor Reed 100, of Victory Highway, died late Tuesday afternoon, November 4, 2008, with her youngest son, Ernest by her side in St. Antoine Residence, No Smithfield. She was the wife of the late Nicholas M. Alter, M.D., who died in 1970. Born May 4, 1908 in Montgomery, AL, the daughter of the late Eleanor Fray Cochran and Prentiss Bishop Reed, she had lived in No. Smithfield since 1956. She was a 1926 graduate of the Scarborough School in Tarrytown, NY. She was a 1930 graduate of Smith College, where she had served as President of the Press Corps, and obtained a M.A. in British Literature in 1961 from Syracuse University. Mrs. Alter taught English and French at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, MA for 25 years until she retired in 1987, at age 79. Mrs. Alter and her family moved to Rhode Island when Dr. Alter was appointed Director of Medical Education at Woonsocket Hospital in 1956. She is survived by a daughter, Eleanor Haas of New York City, NY, two sons, Nicholas A. Alter of Arroyo Grande, CA and Ernest H. Alter of Slatersville and two grandchildren, Nina Eleanor Alter of San Francisco, CA and Prentiss Alter of Jersey City, NJ. She was predeceased by a daughter, Katherine Cree, who died in 1987, a brother, Lt. Col. Prentiss B. Reed, who died in 1999 and her younger sister, Dolly Wageman, who died in 2006. A Funeral Service will be held Saturday, Nov. 8 at 10 AM in St. James' Episcopal Church, 24 Hamlet Ave., Woonsocket, RI 02895. Burial will follow in Union Cemetery, North Smithfield. Calling hours are omitted. Arrangements under the direction of the Holt Funeral Home, 510 South Main St., WOONSOCKET, RI. Memorial contributions may be made to St. James' Episcopal Church. www.holtfuneralhome.com.