Alice L. (Daborn) Berry
Apr 21st, 2022
EAST DENNIS - Alice L. (Daborn) Berry, 80, of East Dennis passed away on Thursday April 21, 2022, after fighting cancer for the third time. Throughout the last three and a half year battle, she never lost her spirit or the conviction that she would ultimately prevail.
She was the wife of David P. Berry.
Born in Englewood, NJ, Alice was the daughter of the late James E. and Alice L. (Garvey) Daborn.
Academic achievements highlighted Alice’s life. She was honored to be a student in the first trigonometry class to allow girls at Teaneck High School. Alice graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Tufts University where she majored in history and then continued her education at Harvard University earning a Master’s in Business Administration. She excelled professionally as well, holding multiple management positions at IBM and Digital Equipment Corporation where she met David.
Perhaps without knowing, Alice borrowed directly from Phi Beta Kappa’s slogan which states, “Love of Learning is the Guide of Life.” Alice was never without a book and she enjoyed puzzles, crosswords, and other word games - often calling friends to challenge them with the latest puzzlers. Family vacations always included an educational component whether that was learning about tectonic plates and volcanoes in Hawaii, petrified forests in Arizona or migrating birds in Florida. She relished traveling and exploring new places from Switzerland (where the family lived for several years) to the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and the majority of the 50 states.
Her love of learning translated into a love of helping. When David and Alice discovered East Dennis early on in their marriage, she embraced the local volunteer communities at the Jacob Sears Memorial Library, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History (CCMNH), and the Dennis Conservation Trust. A strong leader, she spearheaded many successful events, including running a portion of the ladies aid annual summer fair at the Library for many years. For nearly 15 years, Alice was a volunteer at CCMNH and cherished her time with fellow volunteers while instilling her love of natural history in many museum-goers. She deeply missed these activities and friendships in her last few years.
Alice’s legacy will live on verbally in stories recounted by her family and friends, emotionally in the passion for learning she instilled in her children and grandchildren, physically through her beautiful home, and spiritually through the mark she made on so many.
In addition to her husband, Alice is survived by her three children, Suzanne Berry and her partner, Bruce Benvie, Lisa Engler and her husband, Steven, and James “JD” Berry and his wife, Lari; four grandchildren, Samuel, Elin, Carter, and Liam; her sister, Carol Small and her husband, Alden; and her cousin, Peter Martell and his wife, Ellen.
A celebration of life will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday May 21 in the Jacob Sears Memorial Library, 23 Center St., East Dennis. Interment will be private.
As an expression of sympathy, memorial donations may be made to the Jacob Sears Memorial Library, 23 Center St., East Dennis, MA 02641 or to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, 869 Main Street, Brewster, MA 02631.