Edith Joan Allard

2014

Edith Joan Allard, 80, of Wakefield, R.I., died Aug. 10.

Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Chauncey and Esther (Harris) Allard. Ms. Allard graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1956, majoring in illustration. After graduation she travelled in Italy before returning home to work in the art department at Little, Brown and Company in Boston. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 1961 and returned to Italy to travel and paint.

Edith worked at Harvard University Press as a book designer, as a freelance designer, and as a designer at Designworks, in Cambridge, MA. She was on the faculty of the New England School of Art and Design in Boston, and became head of their Design Department. After living in Cambridge, she moved to family land in Somerville, ME. Living off the grid on Crummett Mountain Farm she raised sheep, grew and sold organic blueberries, and continued to illustrate and design books. She moved back to Wakefield in October 2013.

She is survived by a daughter Dianna Normanton, of Litchfield, New Hampshire; two grandsons, Shea Vaccaro of Peterborough, NH, Tolin Vaccaro of Litchfield, NH; an aunt Justine Harris of Reynoldsburg, OH; and cousins Justine Harris Brooks, of Reynoldsburg, OH, Albert Harris of Petersburg NY, Paul Harris of Brandon MS, Carolyn Lowery of Polk City, FL, John Conn of Homestead, FL, Stephen Conn of Ocala, FL, Clyde Pignolet of Somerville, ME, Claudia Fujinaga, of Somerville, ME, and Susan Woolley of Rancho Santa Fe, CA.

A memorial service will be held at the Washington Cemetery, Washington, Maine, Saturday, September 13, at 1 p.m. For guest book and condolences, see averystortifuneralhome.com.