Elisabeth White Hopkins, a pioneering Montessori educator and beloved matriarch, died peacefully on July 30 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She was 85.
Born in Gothenburg, Sweden, Elisabeth came to the United States in 1961 as a newly trained Montessori teacher. She started her career at the Penn-Mont Academy in Altoona, Pennsylvania and later became the founding teacher of the West Side Montessori School in New York City.
While raising a family of four children, she pursued a bachelor’s and a master’s at Columbia Teachers College, with a focus on early childhood development and intervention for special needs. During a three-year period living with her family in Belgium, she taught at the Scandinavian School of Brussels, Ecole Reine Astrid. Upon her return to the U.S., she taught at Rye Country Day School in Rye, New York and Mount Holyoke College, where she mentored future educators within the early childhood development program.
Elisabeth was a bright and engaging soul, ever open to new people and experiences. She listened well and was curious, supportive and accepting, rather than judgmental. She continued to grow and learn throughout her life, leading by example through both ups and downs. She was a talented knitter, quilter, seamstress, weaver and upholsterer, always eager to teach another.
Elisabeth’s Swedish traditions and culture remained central to her life and are a part of the beautiful legacy she shared with those she loved. She sought to give her children and grandchildren “wings” and the courage to ask “why not?” as they set out to follow their dreams.
She nurtured and grounded her large family at Sweet Water Farm in Cummington, Massachusetts — a place where her children, friends and extended family could gather to play all manner of games and to adventure outdoors. She drove a mean tractor, often mowing the farm’s meadows and using its bucket to chauffeur grandchildren toward blueberry picking at the end of the dirt road.
Her frequent return trips to Sweden were an opportunity to visit with dear relatives and to strengthen ties among the next generation. Even as her short term memory weakened, she held onto the details from her childhood and most thankfully, her positive, elegant and enthusiastic demeanor remained.
Daughter of the late Roy White and Ingrid Olsson White, Elisabeth was predeceased by her son Matthew and her former husband Thomas Hopkins. She is survived by her twin brother John
White (Elisabeth), her three daughters: Ingrid Olsson Hopkins (Bern Weintraub), Hannah Hopkins Hartl (Scott), Helen Hopkins Kellogg (Terry) and her daughter-in-law Tamra Tibbetts Hopkins. She will be missed by 17 grandchildren (Elsa, Maddie, Mia, Emma, Manya, Ben, Willa, Eva, Lucy, Carl, Geir, Abi, Nina, LilyAnna, Asher, Thomas and James), and six nieces and nephews in Sweden and the U.S. She also leaves behind her partner of many years, Jim Beck, with whom she shared her life in Cambridge and many late-in-life adventures.
Elisabeth treasured her many wonderful female friends, each amazing in their own right, who fiercely supported her and who share many fond memories from their time together through life’s joys and challenges.
Elisabeth will be forever remembered for her grace and gratitude, her openness and her warmth.
We are thankful to the Applewood, Arbors and Fisher Home communities in Amherst for the support and care they provided in her final years. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Amherst Survival Center or SWEA — the Swedish Women’s Education Association — both organizations for which she cared deeply.