Mary Alyce Daly Brickell, a long-time resident of Plandome, died peacefully at home on Friday, Aug. 2. She was 99.
Born in Huntington, W. Va., and educated at Ohio State (BFA and BSc), Columbia (MFA), and Indiana Universities, Brickell was an artist and aesthete, passionate about education, civic engagement, antiques, and her family and faith.
An excellent student from an early age, she was an avid reader, quick to correct grammatical errors, and enjoyed reciting poetry and discussing books into her 90s.
Her interest in art and design was long standing.
After college, where she was nicknamed “Inch” for her petite stature, she moved to Chicago to design window displays for Carson Pirie Scott & Co.’s flagship store on State Street in the Loop, then made drawings and wrote copy for St. Charles Kitchens.
In 1951 she married Henry Mitchell “Mitch” Brickell, a college friend she ran into in Chicago, where he was a graduate student. Their marriage lasted 68 years, until his death in 2019.
They moved to New York City, where Inch enrolled at Columbia University to earn her M.F.A. while Mitch earned his doctorate at Teachers College. Mitch was hired to develop a curriculum for the Manhasset Public Schools in 1954, and the couple moved to Manhasset in 1957.
They lived there for 64 of the next 67 years, interrupted only by three years in Bloomington, Ind. when Mitch was recruited as associate dean of the school of education at Indiana University.
Back in Manhasset, she guided four children to graduation from Manhasset High School, to college, and through graduate school.
She loved socializing, baking, and hosting parties. She was an expert knitter, sewed elaborate Halloween costumes, taught art classes, and made fanciful decorations for the Senior Frolic.
Deep involvement in community life was a value she impressed upon her children. For decades, she sang in the choir at the Congregational Church of Manhasset, attended school board meetings, and was an active member of the Plandome Woman’s Club. She developed successful careers as an antiques dealer and Realtor.
Significantly, she worked with Mrs. David “Lillian” Chase and Mrs. John “Midge” Rankin to co-found the Manhasset Student Aid Association, which has made college grants and loans to more than 900 students over 50 years.
Inch raised funds for both MSAA and her church by helping organize periodic antique shows using her educated eye. She regularly attended antique shows and auctions.
She had an unerring sense of direction and was generally intrepid. In 1963, she drove her four children across the country, navigating with paper maps, while Mitch flew.
Inch is celebrated by her four children, Mark Brickell (Anita), Julia Brickell (Roger Davis), Sally Brickell (Jeff Kaplan), and Todd Brickell (Sharon); 11 grandchildren, Missye Brickell Knapp (Brian), Amanda Bellows (Marcus), Henry Matthias Brickell (Bri), Meredith Forti (Jon), Russell Kaplan, Alyssa Kaplan (Alex Madronal), Kimberly Davis, Bennett Kaplan, Eileen Brickell, Forrest Kaplan, and Julia Ann Brickell; and eight great-grandchildren.
Each benefitted from her high standards, guidance, and gifts of Steiff bears and carefully chosen books. She never missed a school concert, grandparents’ day, or dance recital.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, Aug. 31, at 2:00 p.m., at the Congregational Church of Manhasset. She will be interred at Glenwood Cemetery in Yazoo City, Miss.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to MSAA at MSAAinc.org
