Adele Erisman

North Stonington - Adele Erisman, 104, champion of the environment, died on Aug. 9, 2014, at her home surrounded by her beloved wildflower garden and woodlands on Reutemann Road in North Stonington. She was born in Buffalo, N.Y., Nov. 11, 1909, daughter of Abram and Bertha F. Saxson Goodman.

In December, 2011, at age 102, Adele Erisman made two extremely generous gifts to conservation in North Stonington. She gave 62.1 acres of her forested land on Reutemann Road to Avalonia Land Conservancy to be preserved open space as the "Erisman Woodlands". She also conveyed her house, and the remaining two acres surrounding it, to The Nature Conservancy, retaining a life use.

Adele was an ardent conservationist and advocate before it was popular and she frequently gave speeches and wrote letters on environmental protection. Her program given to the Mystic Garden Club in 1943 led, in part, to the creation of the Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center (DPNC) in 1946, on land that the Denison Society made available for that purpose. She was present at early organizational meetings with Drs. Richard Goodwin and William Niering, pioneers in conservation, that resulted in the formation of The Nature Conservancy, now a major worldwide conservation organization. She helped establish North Stonington's first Conservation Commission before there was public awareness of the need to protect open spaces and wetlands for their conservation value. She was a founding director of the Avalonia Land Conservancy in 1968, then known as The Mashantucket Land Trust.

Her contribution to the environment was in her life-style, her example, the way she has kept her property, and the way she has lived the conservation ethic.

She was a talented artist and in her earlier years was a reference librarian at Otis Library in Norwich. She was also a paralegal and assistant to attorney Morgan McGuire for many years.

She was also an active member of Planned Parenthood, the Xerxes Society and the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA).

She was predeceased by her husband, Robert O. Erisman, an author, editor and book review writer, who died in 1995. They had no children and Mrs. Erisman left no surviving immediate family members.

She leaves her close friend and neighbor, Marilyn Taylor, along with her very dedicated caregivers.

Memorial gifts may be made to Wheeler Library, 101 Main St., North Stonington, CT 06359; or The Denison Pequotsepos Nature Center, 109 Pequotsepos Rd., Mystic, CT 06355; or the Avalonia Land Conservancy, PO Box 49, Old Mystic, CT 06372; or the Connecticut Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, 55 High Street, Middletown CT 06457.

There will be no funeral, and interment will be private. There are no calling hours. Dinoto Funeral Home, 17 Pearl St., Mystic, is in charge of arrangements. Avalonia Land Conservancy will host a trail walk and reception in her honor at the Erisman Woodlands at a future date.