North Thetford, VT- Alice Brannan Gnaedinger died on November 17, 2018, surrounded by her loving family. Alice was born in Bryan, Ohio on June 12, 1928, to Roxanna and Russell Brannan. When Alice was three, her father succumbed to encephalitis contracted while serving in the First World War. She lived on the family farm in Stryker, Ohio while her mother completed her education in home economics. At the age of 5, she and her mother moved to Hudson, Ohio. Alice was active in high school playing clarinet in the band, and stocking shelves at the grocery store for 25 cents an hour. She wanted to join the WACs; however, women had to be 18 and she was not old enough before the war ended. She attended Denison University and put together her own major, Citizenship, and played field hockey and worked serving tables.

During Alice's senior year at Denison, one of her professors suggested a program where she could help with recovery efforts in Europe. In the summer of 1949, she went to an American Friends' student work camp in Chambon sur Lignon – a French village that had saved many Jewish children during WWII – where she lay new septic pipe to help rebuild the town.

Alice next went to Munich, Germany to work in a displaced persons camp. She and a group of American college graduates, coordinated by Church World Service, processed applications for refugees emigrating to the U.S. She was later reassigned to Hamburg, making sure paperwork was in order as refugees left for the United States. After completing work at the displaced persons camp, she and a friend bought a used Army Jeep and toured Europe from Italy up to Paris. Their last memory of their Jeep was seeing the person who bought it pushing it down the road in Paris trying to pop start it.

Back in the U.S. in 1951, Alice worked for the Tolstoy Foundation in New York City, working with White Russian immigrants. Alice always spoke with fondness of her work with these refugees. She celebrated Russian Orthodox Easter with them at midnight, and enjoyed working with Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy's youngest daughter, who ran the Foundation.

Alice attended Western Reserve University in Cleveland and graduated with a degree in social work in 1954. She made many life-long social work friends during her time at Western Reserve, and they all worked with children. Alice worked with troubled youth in the schools of East Cleveland.

When not working, Alice led American Youth Hostel bicycle tours, leading young people through Europe. She was always an avid traveler, and enjoyed hiking, canoeing, and snowshoeing.

In 1957, she met her future husband, Oskar Gnaedinger, when she led a Swiss Youth Hostel group on a tour of the eastern U.S. and Canada. Oskar moved to the States in 1960, living with his future mother-in-law while working for the American Automobile Association in Cleveland. Alice and Oskar were married in 1961 and after a cross-country trip – to San Francisco and then to the East Coast – they settled

in North Salem, New York. Their two children, Ellen and Charles, were born in Mount Kisco, NY.

After marrying, Alice continued as an active volunteer. She was the Art Lady in the elementary school, was a fantastic Girl Scout troop leader – game for camping in any season – and was active in the League of Women Voters. After Swissair sent Oskar to the Midwest, the family lived in Cedarburg, WI. Alice worked with seniors at the Lasata Nursing home and established a state-of-the-art recycling center in the 1970s, years ahead of its time.

Alice and Oskar moved to Thetford, Vermont in 1990 and she cared for her mother in their new home. Alice remained an active volunteer at the Thetford Library, as a Meals-on-Wheels driver, and as a hospice volunteer with VNA/VNH. Anyone who ever knew Alice knew she was an intellectual. She shared her books with any and all who had a similar interest in reading – family, friends, acquaintances, neighbors, social work buddies, and people on her Meals-on-Wheels route.

Alice was a Deacon of the Federated Church of North Thetford and a member of the Norwich Congregational Church. A life-long advocate for peace and social justice, she always supported the American Friends Service Committee and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Alice is survived by her beloved husband, Oskar Gnaedinger, her two children, Charles Gnaedinger, and Ellen Gnaedinger, her son-in-law Douglas Lufkin, and her grandson Steven Lufkin.

A Memorial Service for Alice will be held on Saturday, November 24, 2018 at 2 p.m. at the United Church of Thetford, 5470 US Rte. 5, North Thetford, Vermont.


In lieu of flowers, the family kindly suggests that you consider a donation to American Friends Service Committee. Donations can be made at https://tinyurl.com/AliceTribute, or by mailing a check to AFSC – Development, 1501 Cherry St, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Please note that the donation is in Alice Gnaedinger's memory.