Eleanor Reed Alter, 100, of North Smithfield, R.I., died Nov. 4 with her youngest son, Ernest by her side. She was the wife of the late Nicholas M. Alter, M.D. who died in 1970. Born May 4, 1908 in Montgomery, Ala., the daughter of the late Eleanor Fray Cochran and Prentiss Bishop Reed, she had lived in No. Smithfield since 1956.
She was a 1926 graduate of the Scarborough School in Tarrytown, N.Y. She was a 1930 graduate of Smith College, where she had served as President of the Press Corps, and obtained a M.A. in British literature in 1961 from Syracuse University. After teaching for a year at Fulton High School in Fulton, N.Y. and two years at Uxbridge High School in Uxbridge, Mass., Mrs. Alter taught English and French at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham, Mass. for 25 years until she retired in 1987 at age 79. She continued teaching part-time for the next six years at Uxbridge High School, Uxbridge Middle School and Blackstone-Millville Regional School.
Before moving to Rhode Island in 1956, Mrs. Alter and her family lived in Jersey City, N.J. for 23 years. While living in Jersey City, Mrs. Alter was president of the College Club of Jersey City, president of the Hudson County Chapter of the American Association of University Women, board member of the YWCA and president of Anna Wittpen Dinkel Chapter of St. Barnabas Nurses. She was also an active fund raiser for Smith College and the Jersey City Symphony Orchestra.
Mrs. Alter and her family moved to Rhode Island when Dr. Alter was appointed Director of Medical Education at Woonsocket Hospital in 1956. While living in Slatersville, Mrs. Alter and her husband helped establish a monthly publication at St. James Church in Woonsocket called the Epistle, which Mrs. Alter edited for many years. Mrs. Alter also helped form the Wayfayers prayer group and served as a licensed Scripture lay reader and as a chalice bearer at St. James. Mrs. Alter also founded the Woonsocket Fine Arts Society, a creative writing group.
Mrs. Alter received a presidential citation from President Ronald Reagan in 1985 for her many years as a devoted teacher. As a published poet, she inspired her students to submit poems and essays for publication in national poetry and essay publications as well as in the King Philip High School literary magazine which she started.
Mrs. Alter was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Society, an international organization for outstanding women teachers, and was editor of the group’s state newsletter.
It was to her Victorian cottage near Pemaquid Point Lighthouse in Maine that Eleanor Alter brought Robert T. Tristram Coffin from Bowdoin College to share in poetry readings with family and friends.
Mrs. Alter was predeceased by a daughter, Katherine Cree, who died in 1987, a brother, Lt. Col. Prentiss B. Reed, who died in 1999 and her younger sister, Dolly Wageman, who died in 2006.
She is survived by a daughter, Eleanor Haas of New York City, N.Y.; two sons, Nicholas A. Alter of Arroyo Grande, Cal., and Ernest H. Alter of Slatersville, R.I.; and two grandchildren, Nina Eleanor Alter of San Francisco, Cal., and Prentiss Alter of Jersey City, N.J.
Funeral service 10 a.m., Sat., Nov. 8 in St. James Episcopal Church, 24 Hamlet Ave., Woonsocket, RI 02895. Burial will follow in Union Cemetery, No. Smithfield, R.I. Calling hours are omitted.
Memorial contributions may be made to St. James Episcopal Church.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Holt Funeral Home, 510 So. Main St., Woonsocket, R.I, www.holtfuneralhome.com.
