Passing of a Legend

Sadly, Ada Mutch ’22, Baldwin’s oldest living alumna, passed away on Friday, January 27 at the age of 106.  As we reflect upon the legacy she left behind, we recall Head of School Sally Powell’s presentation of the famed White Blazer to Ada in 2010.

Ada Mutch '22 with Emmy Hunter VanderZwaag '75 at the opening of the Athletic Center in 2008.

It gives me great pleasure to present a special award this year.  Back in 1922 a certain graduate of Baldwin School won what was then called “the gym award” for the third consecutive year. This remarkable young woman was born in Scotland and came to Bryn Mawr with her family.  Booked on the Titanic, her family postponed the trip due to a sibling’s illness.  Fortunately, she came to the United States on the Caledonia instead, and entered Baldwin in 1912.  At that time, Montgomery Avenue consisted of two paved center lanes for cars and two outer dirt lanes for horses and carriages!  While at Baldwin, she came to be called upon often in the classroom.  She soon realized that she had a different accent from the other children.  One of the teachers finally told her, “I love to hear you talk.” Upon graduation, she studied physical education and earned a degree from the Boston School of Physical Education, going on to teach at the Westover School in Connecticut.  She then came back to Baldwin as a teacher of Physical Education, teaching here for six years.

In 1933 this alumna enrolled in New York’s Columbia-Presbyterian School of Nursing, graduating in 1936.  She quickly became surgical supervisor and joined the faculty of the Department of Nursing. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, our intrepid alumna joined the army and served in the European Theater as chief nurse from 1942 to 1946.  Part of Headquarters Staff, she was the only woman officer in this group.

As if this were not enough for this amazing Baldwin graduate, she went on the study for a Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s Teacher’s College, and then became instructor and assistant professor of Nursing at Columbia Presbyterian.  Utilizing her nursing skills, she studied the nursing in mission hospitals in Syria, Lebanon, Iran, India, Pakistan, Thailand and the Philippines.

In 1955, she joined the staff of Lankenau Hospital as Director of Nursing and Nursing Education, bringing her experience and knowledge to the hospital and remaining at Lankenau until 1970.

Upon retirement, do you think that this distinguished alumna rested on her laurels?  Hardly-she became a director of the Main Line’s Meals on Wheels, became a board member of the Philadelphia YMCA, served as a trustee at Baldwin School, and volunteered for Elder Net for many, many years.  In fact, she drove to the market to pick up groceries for Elder Net clients at age 97, having volunteered there for 26 years!  Apparently, when her clients complained of old age, she was known to say “I am ninety-something.  What are you complaining about?”  When her clients learned of her age, they were apt to say “Oh, you have given me a new lease on life!” Upon turning 100, she was asked how she kept so spry.  She attributed her longevity to a life long love of athletics, which was spawned and nurtured at Baldwin.

This alumna is now 105 years old.  Because Baldwin’s White Blazer Award began years after her winning the gym award, it is my honor to bestow a White Blazer to our oldest and most revered alumna: Margaret Ada Mutch!