Alice Louise von der Linden

Alice Louise von der Linden, 96, passed away Saturday, April 13, 2013 after a life filled with family, friends, love, humor, mischief and charity. She lived every day to the fullest and filled the lives of those who knew her with the same spunk and determination that they all learned to love about her.
Alice lived most of her life in Maplewood, N.J. where she was born. There she met and married Theodore William "Bill" Vail and had three daughters: Susan, Nancy and Carol. Their family of five spent summers in their vacation home in Sands Point Harbor, N.J., where Alice was able to enjoy her love of the beach, the sun, and her children. She carried on this tradition for years with her daughters and many grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Alice was an outstanding example to her family. She held both bachelor's and master's degrees in Math from Montclair State College in New Jersey and taught math at Madison High School in New Jersey for many years until she retired. She was a member of the New Jersey Education Association and enjoyed knitting, swimming, reading books, and helping family with educational endeavors.
The tragedy of her husband Bill's accident, which blinded him and his subsequent passing in 1981, proved her strength and resiliency. She showed her daughters and grandchildren how to be strong in the face of adversity and tremendous loss.
Alice was one of the lucky few who at the age of 73 met a second love and married Max A. von der Linden in 1989. With this marriage she added two step sons, Ki and Carl von der Linden, to her family. Alice and Max had four happy years together in Chatham, N.J. They were members of the Lackawanna Sail & Power Squadron and Raritan Yacht Club, and enjoyed sailing, the beach, extensive traveling and their blended families. They moved to Chambrel in Williamsburg in 1993 to be closer to family, where Alice spent her remaining years before moving to Yorktown in 2011.
Alice was a former member of Prospect Presbyterian Church in Maplewood and Ogden Presbyterian Church in Chatham, and was a member of Williamsburg Presbyterian Church.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Theodore William Vail and Max von der Linden, and is survived by her daughters, Susan Shamp of Wooster, Ohio; Nancy Hinman and her husband Mark of Seaford; and Carol Rupe and her fiance Lewis Plummer of Narrows; stepsons Carl and Ki von der Linden, 15 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren.
A Memorial Celebration of Life and Reception will be held at 2 p.m. on May 11 at the Seaford Yacht Club, 3108 A Goodwin Neck Rd., Yorktown. Please come and celebrate Alice's life with her family. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations are suggested to the American Foundation for the Blind (www.afb.org/donate.aspx) or to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (www.cbf.org/donate-landing).
The family would like to express their gratitude to York Convalescent & Rehabilitation Center and Heartland Hospice for their loving care.
Arrangements by Amory Funeral Home