Alice M. DeLANA

DELANA, Alice Mohler Venerated Teacher and Cultural Advocate, dies at 88.

Beloved mother, grandmother, teacher, and friend, died peacefully in Westwood, Massachusetts, on August 23, 2025, of natural causes.

Born October 5, 1936, in Philadelphia, to Orren and Helen Mohler, Alice graduated from Kingswood Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and studied mathematics at Mount Holyoke College, before transferring to the University of Michigan to earn a degree in English. Her love of teaching was sparked by her father, a lifelong academic and longtime chair of the University of Michigan Department of Astronomy.

For nearly four decades, Alice taught English, computer science, and art history at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. Thousands of young women passed through her classrooms, many crediting her with inspiring them to pursue professional lives in the arts, education and publishing. At her retirement, Miss Porter estimated she had taught half the school's living alumnae. She often said her task was to give her students agency and then step aside to let them claim their own voices. She asked much of them and gave them the courage to meet the world.

Alice arrived at Miss Porter's in 1959, a 22-year-old newlywed, who at first took the job so she could be home in time for dinner. What began as convenience became a vocation that defined her life.

Her courses were rigorous, sweeping and alive. She covered 20,000 years of art in a single academic year, her silver ponytail flashing like a banner of energy, laughter threaded through her lectures. She demanded precision, but welcomed dissent, often answering objections with her trademark "Fair enough." Kindness, she reminded her students, was radical. "We are kind to each other here." Civility became an essential part of the education she offered.

Her 1998 commencement address, delivered on the day she retired, is still remembered by faculty and alumnae. Quoting Emily Dickinson, she told the graduates, "We must be careful what we say. No bird resumes its egg." The speech was elegant, cerebral, and humorous, a mirror of the woman herself.

After retiring, Alice served as a docent at Harvard's Fogg Museum and led student and alumni groups from Mount Holyoke and Harvard on tours through the Louvre, the Uffizi, the National Gallery and more. She was a teacher, traveler, and companion whose knowledge and warmth drew admiration everywhere she went.

She also gave generously to Hartford's cultural life, serving on the boards of the Hill-Stead Museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Mortensen Library, and Hartford Stage Company. As the first female member of Hartford's University Club, she spoke with spark and authority on art and literature, her talks often published by local historical societies.

Her marriage to William G. DeLana, a partner at Day, Berry & Howard, was marked by devotion to intellect and community. His death in 1987 left her, as she described it, "unable to breathe for several years." She carried on with grace, pouring herself into her students, volunteer work and grandchildren.

Alice was elegance woven with courage, creativity always at her fingertips, her heart sharp and joyful. She loved time at the family's home on Chappaquiddick, where mornings began with her whistle over the tea kettle. A book was always tucked under her arm. To her, art was not history but a living conversation and she invited everyone in.

In later years, Alzheimer's softened her intellect. Some days she was sharp as ever, others she drifted. For those who loved her, it was a long goodbye. Her son said, "She didn't just belong to us, she belonged to us all." Her daughter described her as "brilliance tied with a ribbon."

Alice is survived by her sister, Jane Barry; her daughter, Elizabeth "Libby"; her son, Charley and daughter-in-law, Patty; and five grandchildren: William, Charlotte, Orren, George, and Harry, who knew her simply as Grandhoney.

A Celebration of Alice's Life will take place at Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut, on October 5, 2025, at 11:30am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Alice M. and William G. DeLana Hartford Area Day Student Scholarship, NPR, your local arts organization or local library to ensure access to all books.