Alice Fridlund Hance

Alice Fridlund Hance

Lebanon, NH - Alice Fridlund Hance (Lou), 88, passed peacefully with her son and daughter by her side at the DHMC Jack Byrne Center for Palliative and Hospice Care on September 25, 2025.

Lou grew up in Tenafly, NJ, with her father Hilmer Maurice and Edith St. John Fridlund, sister Elaine Truitt Lester and brother Norman "Tex" Fridlund.

She first visited Dartmouth in the early 50s where her brother introduced her to her future husband, Warren S. Hance ("Skip", Dartmouth '55). They married in Englewood NJ in 1956.

Over their 52 years together, they had two children: Allen St. John Hance and Lindsay Hance Kosnik, and had successful and meaningful careers in secondary and higher education, travelled the world, and prioritized time with family and friends. They also loved animals, and over the years cherished a wired-haired fox terrier named Clyde, and many cats – too many to name!

Lou devoted the first two decades of married life to family, not only her own but to the entire student body and staff of Miss Porters School (MPS), in Farmington, CT where Skip served as Assistant Headmaster and then Headmaster from 1966 to 1985. During that time she helped establish an early education center and also worked in the MPS admissions office, along with fulfilling the myriad responsibilities of the headmaster's wife, a job she likened to that of a diplomat. Lou also made time to go back to school, graduating with a BA in psychology from the University of Hartford in 1984.

After a brief stint in Boston MA, where Lou worked as Dean of Students at Noble and Greenough School, in Needham, MA, she and Skip moved to the Upper Valley. They rejoined the Dartmouth community with Lou advising international students and faculty, and Skip serving as VP Development & Alumni Affairs until they retired in 1993.

They were residents in Orford, NH for over 20 years where they enjoyed gardening, a spectacular view of Mt. Moosilauke and Upper Baker Pond, walking/snow shoeing, birding, reading, cooking, traveling, and hosting friends and a growing family including five grandchildren.

They moved to Grantham NH in 2005, and after 8 years as a devoted caregiver, Lou lost Skip in February of 2009.

But Lou's passion for life was impossible to extinguish, and she continued to enjoy all the Upper Valley has to offer. She moved to The Woodlands at Alice Peck Day in Lebanon NH in 2019, and then Harvest Hill in 2021 where she had many close friends. Lou and her family deeply appreciate the wonderful care she received there.

Lou is survived by her son, Allen St. John Hance and his wife, Heather Traber Hance; her daughter Lindsay Hance Kosnik and her husband, Christopher Paul Kosnik; and five grandchildren: Jackson and Emily Hance; and Connor, Ian, and Luke Kosnik.

She was deeply loved and will be forever remembered. A celebration of life will be planned at a future date. Condolences may be expressed to the Hance and Kosnik families on an online guestbook at rand-wilson.com