Tributes

Alida Nicholas Lovell February 23, 1936 - December 13, 2025 Beloved mother to: Alida (Lylee) Van Pelt, Malvern, PA, Ellen Jordan, Malvern, PA, and William (Will) Van Pelt, Roseville, CA. Beloved and wicked stepmother to: Alexandra (Lexy) Lovell, Brooklyn, NY and Douglas Lovell, Plymouth, MA. Epic grandmother to: Nathaniel (Nattie) Jordan, Exton, PA, Peter Jordan, Malvern, PA, Amanda Van Pelt, Raleigh, NC, Seth Van Pelt, Davis, CA, Rosemary (Rosie) Van Pelt, Chico, CA, Katherine ( Katie) Lovell, New York, NY, Lillia (Lillie) Lovell, San Francisco, CA, Hope (Hopie) Lovell, Washington, D.C., Alex Uys, Boulder, CO, and Jeremy Uys, Los Angeles, CA. Adored and annoyingly insightful sister to: Frederick (Derick) Nicholas, Stonington, CT, Anthony (Tony) Nicholas, Blue Hill, ME, and Nancy Hatfield, East Blue Hill, ME. A delightful mother-in-law, great aunt, cousin, and friend to so many. Alida was all color and enthusiasm: - "I love bling” she liked to say, jingling her gold bracelets. She was the definition of one who understood “bling” before the word was coined. In her earliest years of adulthood, motherhood to her three children was her primary focus, but she also enjoyed playing tennis, sailing, international traveling, and collecting indigenous clothing from all over the world. Along with her love of bling, went her love of color, particularly the colors of nature, sun rises and sunsets, or clear blue and green days of a northwesterly breeze in Maine. She loved the bright colors a garden could produce, and to that end was an avid and well informed gardener. Always a reader from her earliest days, she passed on her love of reading to all her children, every book club she joined, and often any one who shared repasts around her dining room tables. When she built her house in East Blue Hill, ME at the age of 64 she discovered her “muse” as she called it, and put to canvas everything she saw around her. Those paintings became key components to the walls of that house in Maine. But more important to her was making all her homes welcoming. She loved entertaining, and knew how to throw a great party well into her late eighties. The more quiet, contemplative side of her always consisted of puzzles. She was quite proud of the many strategies she developed for solving Sudoku. The New York Times puzzles, particularly Spelling Bee, and Wordle became great pastimes and she was only content when she attained the heights of Queen Bee, which she did nearly every day. Alida was born in Greenville, South Carolina, the second of four children. She spent her formative middle school years at the North Country School in Lake Placid, New York, then graduated from the Agnes Irwin School, in Rosemont, PA and went on to Smith College, in Northhampton, MA. She married William (Bill) Van Pelt before graduating in 1956, and focused on raising her three children. In the early 1970’s, she chose to finish her degree through Bryn Mawr College, got divorced and went to work as an estate planner at the Fidelity Bank in Philadelphia. In 1975 she married Douglas Gordon Lovell, Jr. Together they travelled to as many parts of the globe as they could, from Nepal, to trekking on camels through the Sahara, the Silk Road, South Africa and the Galapagos. When they were not traveling, she assisted her husband running their agricultural chemical marketing services firm, Addwell (an acronym for the seven members of the blended family). Alida had a long time interest in the archaeological museum at the University of Pennsylvania. She knew history and rattled off information about, say - the Bayeux Tapestry at the drop of a hat. Her children referred to her as "Steel Trap" because her memory was so sharp. She was a excellent cook, a generous host, and in her words "became a good listener." She adored her southern sunlit windows in the Pennsylvania winter and always returned every summer to the family compound from her childhood in East Blue Hill, Maine, equally happy to have her solitude or the house jam packed with the usual fourteen relatives for dinner. She made it all happen and it gave her so much pleasure. We are all so very grateful. A Celebration of Life for the Philadelphia area will be held later in the Spring as well as a summer celebration in Maine in early August. In lieu of any kind of flowers, please plant a memorial tree, support a local library, or pay forward her welcoming kindness, host a dinner party for new acquaintances, or travel somewhere and learn about folks different from you. We’d enjoy hearing about any and all of your choices in her honor so please email us at alida.vanpelt@gmail.com.