Obituaries

Edwin Sheffield, a longtime Wyndmoor resident and a founder of Cathedral Village, a retirement and senior care facility in Philadelphia, died at his home at the facility on April 25. He was 98. Sheffield was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1922 to William Paine Sheffield and Agatha Sheffield. He had three siblings, two brothers […]

Norton A. Kent, 96, formerly of Chestnut Hill, a city planner and longtime community volunteer, died April 26 of complications of the coronavirus at Foulkeways in Gwynedd. Mr. Kent’s career as a city planner took him to positions in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and Norwalk, Connecticut, in addition to projects in Philadelphia and Chester […]

Karl H. Spaeth of Conshohocken died on April 11 of natural causes. He was 91. Spaeth was born in Philadelphia on March 12, 1929, the third son of Lena Link and Edmund B. Spaeth. He grew up in Germantown. Spaeth was educated at Germantown Friends School, Haverford College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School. Later […]

Luke A. Marano, Sr. of Philadelphia, died at Foulkeways in Gwynedd on April 21. He was 94 years old. Marano was the first son of Vincent and Antoinette Marano. He was born and raised in Chestnut Hill. Growing up, he worked at Caruso’s Market, a multigenerational family business in Chestnut Hill (where Weavers Way Chestnut […]

Ella King Russell Torrey, 94, a 51-year resident of Chestnut Hill, a foreign affairs and human rights expert, an aide to Eleanor Roosevelt, and passionate activist, died at Chestnut Hill Hospital due to complications from the coronavirus on April 14. She lived at Cathedral Village in Roxborough for 15 years. Known as Ella, she was […]

Ethel (Babbie) Benson Nalle Wetherill died Tuesday, April 14, at the Mather House at the Hill at Whitemarsh, Lafayette Hill, of complications from advanced COPD. She was 95. Born at home on Bethlehem Pike in Chestnut Hill, on January 6, 1925, she was the daughter of Edwin N. Benson Jr. and Ethel Weightman Benson. Her […]

Jane Becker, a longtime Chestnut Hill resident, educator, and advocate for youth died at Foulkeways at Gwynedd on Saturday, April 11. She was 88. Born in Germantown, Mrs. Becker and her husband, Dick Becker, moved to Chestnut Hill in 1954. Mrs. Becker had a distinguished career as an elementary school teacher in the Philadelphia Public […]

By David R. Contosta Throughout her life, Quita Woodward Horan acted quietly and persistently to preserve the natural and built environments of Philadelphia’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood, where she was born and lived throughout her life. She died on April 5, at age 86, following a long illness. She was the daughter of Philadelphia civic activist […]

Ena V. L. Swain, author and community historian Ena Veronica Lindner Swain, 88, of Germantown, an author, activist and community historian, died March 27 at Chestnut Hill Hospital. Mrs. Swain’s book, “The Evolution of Abolitionism in Germantown and Its Environs,” was published in 2018 and described the birth of the abolition movement in Germantown from […]

Russell Conwell Goudy Sr., 89, the former owner of the William A. Kilian Hardware Co. in Chestnut Hill, died March 15 at his home in Gwynedd. As the proprietor of Kilian’s, Mr. Goudy was widely known in the community for helping customers to find what they were looking for among the tens of thousands of […]