Rosemary Hewitt | Educator, 82

Rosemary Accola "Coke" Hewitt, 82, a Quaker educator, died of Parkinson's disease Dec. 1 at Kendal at Longwood, a retirement community in Kennett Square.

Mrs. Hewitt was born in Tokyo, Japan, where her father, an engineer and businessman, was working. She grew up in Pelham Manor, N.Y., and earned a bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College, where she met her future husband, David L. Hewitt. They married in 1947 and raised three sons in Media, and later lived in Moylan. Mrs. Hewitt was a Democratic committeewoman in both communities.

After her sons were in school she taught mathematics at Media Friends School and then in the 1980s was principal of Lansdowne Friends School for three years.

Mrs. Hewitt took graduate courses in art and education at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Pennsylvania and completed the two-year program in art appreciation at the Barnes Foundation. She studied Chinese, Greek and Italian, and made pottery. She also engaged in stress-relief therapies including the martial art tai ji quan and chi gong, a type of Chinese medicine that coordinates breathing patterns with physical postures and motions of the body.

In addition to her husband, Mrs. Hewitt is survived by her sons, Peter, Daniel and Kruskal; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Jan. 5 at Kendal at Longwood, 1109 E. Baltimore Pike, Kennett Square.

Donations may be made to Stratford Friends School, 5 Llandill Rd., Havertown, Pa., 19083. Mrs. Hewitt was a longtime board member of the school for children with learning disabilities.