Fern Alexandra Carrie, 56, of Chestnut Hill, a bank executive, died Sept. 25 of complications of systemic scleroderma at Wyndmoor Hills in Wyndmoor.
When she retired in 1997, Mrs. Carrie was vice president in the Finance Department at Mellon Bank, where she had been employed for two decades.
She received a bachelor's degree from McGill University in Montreal, graduating with honors, and a master's in business administration from the University of Toronto. After graduating, she was recruited by Mellon Bank, prompting her to move from Canada, where she was raised in Ville St. Laurent, Montreal, to the United States, where she worked for Mellon in Pittsburgh and then in Philadelphia.
As a 12-year-old, Mrs. Carrie won the Ontario swimming championship. She continued to swim throughout her life, usually a mile or more every morning, followed by a walk of at least a mile in the evening until her illness forced her to stop. She was often seen strolling around Chestnut Hill with her fanny pack and headphones.
Her latter years were devoted to her family and the restoration of her home and its gardens. Her vegetable garden annually yielded a healthy harvest of tomatoes, peppers, squash and lettuce – often too plentiful to be consumed by her family – and she was known to give much of her food to friends around Chestnut Hill.
Her efforts in the garden and in the five-year restoration of her home were honored by the Chestnut Hill Historical Society in 2014.
She is survived by her husband, Michael B. Mann; sons Philip A. Pié and Ian Carrie-Mann; her mother, Jean Carrie, and a sister, Fiona Carrie-Field.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 9, at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill. Memorial donations may be made in her name to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3400 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19104. – WF
