Emily Kempner Mayne

Emily Kempner Mayne, beloved wife of Walter Mayne and sister of Daphne Kempner and Paul Kempner, passed away on Friday, September 26, 2025. Emily died of acute myeloid leukemia eight weeks after being admitted to the hospital. A few days before entering the hospital, Emily was laughing, reading to and playing with her two young great-nephews, Max and Theo. In addition to her husband, siblings and great-nephews, Emily is survived by her six beloved nieces and nephews, Peter Mayne, Eleanor Mayne, Douglas Kempner, Marga Kempner, Sam Meyerson, and Quinn Meyerson.

Emily was born in New York City on May 11,1960 and raised in Englewood, New Jersey. As a "Jersey girl" she could do a killer Jersey accent if prompted and was an ecstatic, to put it mildly, Bruce Springsteen fan.

Growing up, Emily played the piano and developed a life-long love of Mozart. She was also a gifted gymnast and a lover of the ocean and the natural world.

Emily met Walter at her brother, Paul's, wedding. They were soon engaged and married on August 20, 1988 at a beloved family home in East Hampton, NY where her grandparents had lived after emigrating from Nazi Germany.

Emily and Walter lived in Somerville after they were married before moving to Arlington where they became long-time residents of the Mount Gilboa neighborhood.

Emily was a beloved special education teacher - by her students and their parents alike - in the Cambridge and Lexington schools. When she retired from teaching, Emily continued to tutor students with learning disabilities.

Emily was a member of multiple walking and book groups in Arlington, and sang in the Mystic Chorale.

Emily had many passions, none greater than her deep love for and devotion to Walter. Together, they traveled to Switzerland to hike with family, and they hiked, canoed, and sailed on the coast of Maine, on Cape Cod, and in the mountains and lakes of New Hampshire and the Berkshires. Emily received much joy from vacations spent with her extended family, time with nieces and nephews at cottages in Boothbay Harbor as well as the Kempner family house in East Hampton.

Emily loved children. She considered them her "young friends" and developed joyful and enduring relationships with many of them. She loved taking them to theatre and concerts, and reading, crafting, singing, and snuggling with them. During the lockdown phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, she taught a group of her young friends, using sidewalk chalk on streets and retaining walls in the neighborhood.

To say Emily was a "dog person" would be a huge understatement. Over time, she and Walter had five dogs, Barley, Reggie, Huckleberry, Buster and Zippy. All were Labrador retrievers and some were rescues and, not surprisingly, each had its own distinctive personality. Emily loved each of them with abandon.

She loved cats, too, and was the "go to" cat sitter in her neighborhood. She delighted in their distinctive feline qualities – bossiness, aloofness, sweetness, and all.

Emily was also a dance enthusiast. She rarely, if ever, missed seeing the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater when they were in Boston and was also an enthusiastic fan of Jacob's Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts.

Emily faced many health challenges during her life. She dealt with each with grace and courage. She was sympathetic and supportive to all who suffered from pain or loss. Her compassion was boundless. Her generosity, joy and kindness will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

In lieu of flowers, please make memorial gifts to any of the following charities:

International Dyslexia Association, Massachusetts Branch, Pride's
Crossing, MA
Westtown School, West Chester, PA
Housing Corporation of Arlington, Arlington, MA
Concord Land Conservation Trust, Concord, MA