Alfhild Ingeborg Olson

Blev 99 år.

Äktenskap med Lawrence Clifton "Pat" Westcott (1908 - 1994)

Noteringar

Daughter of John and Louise Erickson Olson. Her family moved to Norwich in 1914, when her father acquired a monument business. Alfhild's father was a town alderman and a leader of the local Swedish community.

She graduated from Syracuse University in 1925 with a degree in Fine Arts.

During the "roaring twenties", she designed and constructed elaborate party decorations for the wealthy clients of a catering firm in Manhattan. Later she applied these skills to many Colgate University banquets held at Colgate Inn.

After the stock market crash of 1929, she ran a large nursery school in South Orange, New Jersey. She designed and ran educational programs for poor immigrants and blacks at the Community House. She was the leader of the first Brownie troop in the area for black girls.

Alfhild was a devoted member of her communities; Hamilton and Oneida. She enjoyed reading and studying just as her father had done. She presented many lectures and programs in local communities on a wide range of subjects, including decorating, gardening and American historical figures.

Alfhild and her husband, a feed dealer and banker, moved from Hamilton to Oneida in 1961. He established the Oneida Milling Company in 1950 which served the area's dairy farmers until 1971. Mrs. Westcott ran the garden shop that was attached to the feed mill, next to Allen Park. She oversaw the construction of their new home in Oneida, planned the landscaping, and was an avid gardener.

Alfhild was a volunteer at the Hamilton Hospital and organized holiday decorations at the Oneida Hospital for 23 years. She also prepared the artwork for early Follies Benefits for the hospital.

Mrs. Westcott was a trustee of the libraries in Hamilton and Oneida, a co-founder of Friends of the Library and was the children's storyteller at both libraries. She told stories to children in Oneida on Saturday mornings for 14 years.

In Oneida, Mrs. Westcott was an active member of the Art Club, The Progress Club and Women of Rotary. She also belonged to the League of American Pen Women.

She received a Colgate Civic Award from Colgate University and Roses for the Living Award from the Oneida Rotary Club.

Personhistoria

Källor