Susan Gray Detweiler, longtime art curator and historian, author, and community leader, has died at 85

Susan Gray Detweiler, 85, of Philadelphia, longtime curator of the Robert L. McNeil Jr. Americana art collection, former curatorial assistant at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, historian, celebrated author, and community leader, died Tuesday, Dec. 26, of complications from heart disease and Parkinson’s disease at her home in Chestnut Hill.

Devoted to the preservation of American art and ceramics, especially U.S. presidential china, Mrs. Detweiler spent more than three decades, from 1985 until recently, overseeing the more than 3,500 pieces in the McNeil collection in Wyndmoor and at the Art Museum. She worked earlier in the museum’s decorative arts department and coordinated countless exhibitions of the McNeil collection and other events.

The McNeil family recognized her contributions several years ago by endowing the museum with the position of the Susan Gray Detweiler Curator of American Art. “She had an exceptional personality,” said her husband, Will. “She was modest and unassuming despite her accomplishments. She was fascinated by art history and became a true scholar.”

Mrs. Detweiler was recognized as a national authority on presidential china, and she conducted in-depth research with several first ladies and White House curators. She served a term as president of the American Ceramic Circle, was active with preservation efforts and historical societies around the country, and lectured often in Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, and elsewhere on the history of ceramics and other topics.

She published several notable books on presidential china and won literary awards from the Athenaeum of Philadelphia and the Decorative Arts Society for 1982′s George Washington’s Chinaware. A reviewer in The Inquirer called it “a beautifully illustrated and scholarly but readable book,” and the San Francisco Examiner said it was a “special treat, an indulgence of the finest.”

She also wrote essays and papers on design and the decorative arts, and contributed to books, TV documentaries, and museum catalogs. She and her husband published Chestnut Hill: An Architectural History in 1969.

She served as executive director of Friends of Independence National Historical Park in the 1980s, and a friend recalled her “amazing list of accomplishments” in an online tribute. “She was a kind, very intelligent, warm, interesting and welcoming person,” he said. Her family said in a tribute: “She lived a life full of passion and purpose.“

Susan Marie Gray was born May 1, 1938, in Evanston, Ill. Her father was a top executive at Hallmark International, and the family traveled throughout her childhood. She graduated from Shawnee-Mission High School in Johnson County, Kan., in 1956 and considered a future in the sciences at first.

But she became enchanted by the work of the Italian painting masters she discovered while at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. So she earned a bachelor’s degree in art history in 1960 at Wellesley and a master’s degree in art history at Harvard University in 1961.

She met Will Detweiler Jr. when they were in graduate school, and they married in 1961, and had daughters Margit and Sara, and son John. She lived in Germany for four years in the early 1960s while her husband served in the Air Force and for NATO.

She studied German in high school and college, and later personally translated her books into German. Her husband said she was also especially proficient in collaborating with him during their time in Germany. “She won everybody’s heart,” he said, “and made my job easier.”

They found a place in Worcester Township, Montgomery County, when he got a job in Philadelphia in 1965, and they moved later to Chestnut Hill. She and her husband also had a second home in Charleston, S.C., for a few years in the 1990s.

Mrs. Detweiler liked to spend time with her dogs and in her garden. A lifelong reader, she especially enjoyed The Secret Garden as a girl and Swedish murder mysteries as an adult.

She was an engaging conversationalist, curious, witty, and interested in genealogy. “She was an inspiration to other women,” said her daughter Margit. “She was both kind-hearted and a true intellect with a passion for learning.”

Her daughter Sara said: “My mom was loved by all who met her.”

Her husband said: “She never said a bad word about anybody, and that’s a rare trait. She gave me stability. She was my best friend.”

In addition to her husband and children, Mrs. Detweiler is survived by four grandchildren and other relatives. A brother died earlier.

Private services are to be held later at Washington Crossing National Cemetery.

Donations in her name may be made to KenCrest, 960A Harvest Dr., Suite 100, Blue Bell, Pa. 19422; and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pa. 19130.