Joan Keller Alden age 89 of Needham, Massachusetts left this life May 11, 2016 surrounded by her family in her home of sixty years. Joan was born in Boston and grew up in Wellesley where she graduated from Wellesley High School and then attended Middlebury College and Harvard University where she received her Masters degree in Education. While she was an English teacher in the Boston suburbs, she met John Milton Alden. They married and Joan became a full time mother to three children. John and Joan enjoyed thirty-seven years of marriage until John’s death in 1989. John was the CEO of Alden Electronics Company, Westborough Massachusetts, a company that served the world meteorological market with the world’s first weather facsimile recorders. John and Joan traveled on business trips together, often to Geneva where the World Meteorological Organization is headquartered. They also traveled to attend operas worldwide.
Joan’s father, Harrison Keller, was a violinist and a President of New England Conservatory of Music so not surprisingly Joan was a strong supporter of the arts. She volunteered and provided support throughout her life for the New England Conservatory, The Opera Company of Boston, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She was also an active member of the Junior League and the Wellesley Congregational Church Women’s groups.
Joan leaves her daughter Elizabeth Alden and her husband Leo J. Dunn III of Dover Massachusetts, their three children Justin Dunn and his wife Rachel, Miles Alden-Dunn and his wife Camilla and their twin sons Miles and Lucca, and William Alden-Dunn; her son Peter Harrison Alden and his wife Linda of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts and children Alexandra Alden, John Alden, Geoffrey Alden, and Eben Alden; her daughter Katherine Alden and her husband William Toretti of Spring Mills, Pennsylvania and her children Kristen Leitzel Hoy and husband Steven Hoy and their daughter Mari, and Jasmine Leitzel. Joan also leaves her sister Kathleen Klein of Sudbury, Massachusetts.
A Funeral Service will be held at the Wellesley Village Congregational Church Chapel, 2 Central Street, Wellesley, Monday, May 16 at 11:30am. Relatives and friends kindly invited. Visitation prior to the service from 11:00-11:30am. Private interment in Mt. Prospect Cemetery, Bridgewater. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to The New England Conservatory, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115-5018.