Adeline Tifft

Other Events and Attributes:

• FamilySearch ID: L52H-JQ8

Notes:

Email from Mike Tifft.

Obituary:
Adeline Tifft Abel was born in Palembang, Sumatra on June 26th, 1931. H e r spirit passed from this earth on January 31st, 2016 in Charlottesvill e , Virginia. In her 84 years of life, she was recognized for her comman d o f romance languages, speaking French, Italian, Spanish and Portugues e flu ently, and for her extensive synthesis of music, arts and philosoph y.

Adeline was born to a French mother, Marguerite de Chazelle, and an Amer i can father, Clarence F. Tifft who met and married in Pointre-a- Peitre , G uadeloupe. Both families had properties and connections in the Frenc h Wes t Indies. Clarence Tifft’s work as a purchasing and supply manage r for th e shipping division of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company led the fam ily to mo ve to Sumatra in 1931. Adeline’s early childhood was filled wit h travel s throughout Indonesia, Asia and France. This early exotic exper ience sti mulated a spirit of adventure and independence. However, with h er father’ s premature death in 1940 and the commencement of the Second W orld War, A deline’s life changed dramatically. She, her younger brothe r (Roland Tiff t- deceased) and mother became war refugees, blocked fro m returning to Fr ance by the Germans and unable to stay in Indonesia bec ause of Japanese a ggressions. Thus began a life of wandering, living thr ough the good grace s of people in Australia, France and the US. Adeline’ s education came fro m reading and short stays in convent boarding schoo l in the Alps and Brit tany. At age 17, in pursuit of further education a nd working opportunitie s, she emigrated from France to the US in 1948. T his move was made possib le by her family’s diplomatic connections, espec ially her uncle who was S urgeon General to de Gaulle. Equally critical w as the kindness of France s Cogswell Wickes, an attorney in Rochester, N Y who agreed to sponsor Ade line. Mr. Wickes had worked for the Hoover Be lgian Relief Commission foll owing WWI and was sympathetic to the pligh t of refugees.

In Rochester, while working multiple jobs including modelling for Eastm a n Kodak, as a translator, a librarian assistant, a tutor of French an d La tin, Adeline attended classes at the University of Rochester. Ther e she m et Paul Louis Abel II, a student at the Eastman School of Music , and the y married on August 27, 1952. They spent two years at the Unive rsity of M ontana where Paul taught music and where her first son Paul II I (deceased ) was born, then moved to Baton Rouge Louisiana where she liv ed for 12 ye ars. In that span, Adeline had three more sons, Mark, Charle s, and Andre w (deceased), while pursuing her PhD in Languages and Philos ophy. Adelin e earned her doctorate from Louisiana State University in 19 66.

The marriage dissolved and Adeline moved with the four boys to accep t a p osition as Assistant Professor of Languages at California State Uni versit y, Long Beach. A year later in 1967, Adeline accepted a faculty po sitio n at Central Connecticut State University where she handled a prodi giou s teaching load including graduate and undergraduate courses in th e roman ce languages, European literature, linguistics and culture. Despi te thi s heavy teaching load, she published 4 textbooks including “La Fra nce: Un e Tapisserie” which was printed in 2 editions by McGraw-Hill. The se textb ooks were recognized for their “multi-modal” incorporation of ar twork, ph otographs of France, and review questions. She attained the ran k of Profe ssor in 1970.

Adeline was greatly admired by colleagues and students for creative teac h ing, the breadth of her knowledge and her unrelenting commitment to stu de nt success. Adeline retired from Central Connecticut State Universit y i n 1988 and returned to Baton Rouge. She remained active traveling, do in g translations and singing in the choir at St. Aloysius Catholic Churc h i n Baton Rouge until her moved to Charlottesville Virginia in 2009.

Adeline Tifft Abel will be remembered for her strong identity with Franc e , for the sounds of Mozart sonatas and Chopin waltzes coming from her p ia no, for her provocative and thoughtful comments on philosophers such a s B alzac, Voltaire, Camus, and Beckett, for the beautiful crocuses, rose s an d lily of the valley that she cultivated and that colored our yard , and f or the warm open atmosphere and exquisite cuisine that she prepar ed for n eighborhood friends. Adeline was a caring mother to the end. Sh e leaves b ehind two sons Mark and Charles Abel, 5 grandsons, Paul IV, Ma tthew, Bria n, Jason, and Michael, and 2 great grandchildren, Cynthia an d Shawn.

To know the secret of death, one must know the heart of life. Adeline Ab e l knew the heart of life. A memorial service in her honor will be plann e d later in Connecticut. In lieu of flowers, offerings in her memory ca n b e made to either the St. Aloysius Church in Baton Rouge or the Univer sit y of Virginia, Palliative Care Department.

Adeline married Paul Louis Abel on 27 Aug 1952 in Rochester, Monroe, New York, United States, and was divorced. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Email from Mike Tifft.

Notes:

Email from Mike Tifft.

Notes:

Email from Mike Tifft.

Notes:

Email from Mike Tifft.