Tracey Anne Hewitt

Tracey Anne Hewitt passed away peacefully on August 18, 2026 at the age of 81. Tracey was born on June 27, 1945, in East Orange, NJ to Joseph T. Hewitt and Elizabeth “Betsy” (Gerber) Hewitt and had a happy childhood surrounded by family, including her older brother Pete; several aunts, uncles, and cousins; and her beloved grandparents, Nanny and LouLou. After graduating from Clifford J. Scott High School in East Orange, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Gettysburg College (class of 1967), where she met Mark F. Durham, to whom she was married until 2001 and with whom she had two daughters, Alexandra and Caroline. In the 1970s, Tracey worked alongside her lifelong best friend, Gail Seygal, as a research assistant at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, drawing on her interest in the sciences and fascination with the natural world. After raising her family in the early 1980s in the Philadelphia area and suburban Syracuse, NY, Tracey pursued higher education, completing a Master’s Degree in Public Health Education from Saint Joseph’s University (including coursework at SUNY Cortland) in 1993. Upon graduation, she began the highlight of her career as a health educator at the Onondaga County Health Department, where she spearheaded the creation of a maternal health library and childhood immunization registry, among other initiatives. An enthusiastic people-person, she thrived on working with the public in schools, at community events, the county jail, and through television appearances. In 2003, Tracey returned to suburban Philadelphia, settling in Narberth, and worked at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she implemented programming focused on child safety until her retirement in 2015. Childhood vacations to the northern beaches of New Jersey and Cape Cod instilled in Tracey a lifelong love of the ocean and digging her feet in the sand. She was always on board for a road trip, frequently adding days to work travel to explore the country on her own, and was known for hunting down the best bakery in any place she visited. Tracey will be deeply missed but fondly remembered by family and friends for her irreverent sense of humor, her amazing baking skills, her passion for chocolate (preferably dark), and her love of gardening and animals–especially the dogs with whom she shared her life. She is survived by her brother, Peter G. Hewitt; her children, Alexandra H. Durham (Peter Knutson) and Caroline E. T. Durham (Anand Patel); and her grandchild Penn; as well as by her beloved dog Lulu Mae. Special thanks to the staff at the Wayne Center for their love and care of Tracey during her final months. Tracey's family and friends will be celebrating her life with a private outdoor gathering in the coming weeks. In lieu of flowers, her loved ones ask that those who wish to honor her memory make donations to their local animal shelter or wildlife rescue. For those who live in the Philadelphia area, they suggest that those who wish to make a donation to support wildlife do so to the Wildlife Clinic at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education.

Tracey Anne Hewitt

June 27, 1945 - August 18, 2026