Alice Mitchell
Alice Palmer Mitchell, born November 15, 1923 in Brooklyn, NY, died peacefully at home on Wednesday, May 20, 2015.
Alice was a caring wife, mother and sister who always put others before herself. She was an artist, avid gardener, writer and especially enjoyed traveling the world with the love of her life, her husband Mitch. Alice had a very special wit and will be missed by all of those who have known her.
A resident of Chattanooga since 1936, Alice graduated in Chattanooga High School’s Class of 1942. She attended University of Tennessee at Knoxville and then the University of Chattanooga where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi and wrote for the university newspaper, The Echo. Trained as a draftsman by the Tennessee Valley Authority, she worked from 1944-1949 as a cartographer in TVA’s Maps and Surveys and the Power Division. She served as a volunteer Red Cross Nurse’s Aide during and shortly after World War II.
Alice was an active member of Grace Episcopal Church since 1954. She was elected to the Vestry, served as a Grace Gardener – aka “Lay Weeders”. Her dedicated service was recognized by the installation of an in-ground watering system in the Grace Church Courtyard by an anonymous donor. She served on several committees and actively participated in Grace’s senior group called The EpiscoPals, a name she conceived.
Prior to joining Grace Church, she was a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Chattanooga, where she met Ian (Mitch) Colin Charles Mitchell in 1938. Ian was on a world tour with The London Choir School as one of eleven English Boy Choristers. They were married at St. Paul’s in 1947 and celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary in 2012.
For more than 25 years, Alice was an audiometrist with the Speech and Hearing Center before retiring 1987. Her volunteer activities included serving as a Board Member and teacher with the Chattanooga Area Literacy Movement, Tennessee’s oldest adult literacy education program now called Re:Start. In a partnership with Grace Church and Woodmore Elementary School, she was a tutor for several years.
Alice was preceded in death by her husband, Ian Colin Charles Mitchell, her parents, Margaret Boswell Palmer and William Ware Palmer, Sr., her son, Colin Mitchell, a sister, Margaret (Peggy) Palmer Beals and a brother, Jeffress Gary Palmer, MD.
She is survived by her children, Margaret (Stephen) Smith, Charles (Ann) Mitchell and Ware (Linda) Mitchell, of Johnson City, TN. Grandchildren include Craig (Emily) Smith, Scott Smith, Charlotte Ann Mitchell, Lauren (Chris) Koehl, Laura (Brooks) Slayton, Bryan (Meredith) Mitchell and Lindsey (Rainer) Powell . She is also survived by her great-grandchildren, Sawyer, Jackson, Georgia and Gilly Smith, Alice Powell and her brother William Ware (Sally) Palmer of Los Altos, CA, plus several nieces and nephews in the U.S. and abroad.
The family particularly wishes to express most grateful appreciation to special friends including Liz Duncan Pratt, Jean Mitchell Massengale, members of the EpiscoPals, the clergy, staff and members of Grace Episcopal Church, the road warriors traveling on the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Speech and Hearing Center van and most recently, the staff of CareAssist and Hearth Hospice.
At Alice’s request, her body will be donated to Vanderbilt Medical School for the advancement of science.
A memorial service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church on Friday, May 29 at 1 p.m. Visitation will take place in the Undercroft at Grace Church following the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Grace Episcopal Church, Founder’s Fund or the Book of Remembrance, 20 Belvoir Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37411.
Announcement is by Hamilton Funeral Home & Cremation Services; 4506 Hixson Pike, Hixson, TN 37343, 423 531-3975.