Ina Prentice R.I.P. August 5th, 1920 - June 9th, 2009

Forty-three years ago, death took her beloved husband Evan; today she went to be reunited with him.

All her life was devoted to helping others. She was a marvelous cook, and her greatest pleasure was to prepare food for her family and friends. What would our Thanksgiving be without her roast potatoes and bread sauce?

As is the case for so many, she never fully recovered from the losses she suffered during WWII. She left her native Scotland to serve her country in London, where she lived through the blitz and endured the hardships, as well as the camaraderie, of wartime.

She spent most of her married life at Clifton College, in Bristol, where my father was Director of Music, and after his death in 1966, worked at the music department of Bristol University. In 1992 she made the permanent move to the U.S. to be close to her six American grandchildren, Iain, Andrew, Fiona, Lorna, Sheila, and Evan, in whose lives she was deeply involved. She also enjoyed the unquestioning devotion of our dogs, Phoenix and Enkidu.

In America, she resumed painting. She was an extremely talented artist, and has left a tremendous legacy, which lives on as well in her son Ian and her English grandchildren, Helen, Hannah, and William, whom she loved greatly. She enjoyed Scrabble with a passion, and generally won, thanks to her almost endless knowledge of obscure, 3-letter Scottish words she always managed to tuck into a triple score square.

Once she was unable to help those she loved, she seemed to lose the will to go on fighting to live. She waited for Iain to come home from Boston, and Sheila from Idyllwild, and three days later she was gone. Her last days were peaceful, and blessedly free from pain.

She gave so much to our whole family. We will all miss her deeply.

Alison Bernhoft, June 9, 2009