Alice Saulnier Ritchie was born on June 8, 1938, in New York City where she grew up in the Morningside Heights neighborhood on the Upper West Side. She died in Chestertown, Maryland at the age of 86. Alice was the daughter of Raymond J. and Estelle Siegel Saulnier.
She is survived by her three children, Sarah Clark Stuart, Warren Clark III (Johanna Phillips-Clark), and Hope Elizabeth Clark (Craig McSparran), and four grandchildren, Marina Estelle Stuart, Emily Dillon Clark, Amelia Flora Stuart, and John Christian Clark. She was married to Lyell H. Ritchie, who died in 2004, for 25 years. She was previously married to Warren Clark, Jr., who died in 2018. She was predeceased by her brother, Mark M. Saulnier. She is also survived by her sister-in-law, Elizabeth Topper, and cousin, Mary Elizabeth Williams, and many devoted nieces, nephews, cousins, and stepchildren.
Alice graduated from Northfield School for Girls in 1956 and attended Vassar College from 1956-1958 where she studied economics. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from George Washington University in 1971, a master's in library science from Catholic University in 1973, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Maryland School of Law in 1985.
She practiced as an Assistant Public Defender for Talbot County and a Deputy State's Attorney for Kent County. After 1996, she had a solo practice as a family law attorney and was a Panel Attorney for the Office of Public Defender, cina division and a Criminal Defense panel attorney. For ten years she was a staff Attorney for the Child Advocacy Project of the Eastern Shore (C.A.P.E.S,.). She was also appointed as a Child's Attorney by the Circuit Courts of Kent and Wicomico County to represent children in domestic or adoption cases. Additionally, she was an attorney for the Kent County Board of Zoning Appeals, Rock Hall Board of Appeals, Betterton Board of Zoning Appeals, and Millington Planning Commission.
Alice was a member of the Maryland State Bar Association, MSBA Peer Review Committee of the Attorney Grievance Commission, Past Chairman of the Judicial Nominating Committee for District 2, and Past Chairman of the Kent County Ethics Commission. An active member of the Chestertown community, she was President of the Kent County Library Board of Trustees, Recording Secretary of the Foundation of the Kent County Library, a Board member of the Kent County United Way and Mid Shore Pro Bono, Member of the Vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Member of Chestertown RiverArts Board and a Historical District Commission member.
She found great joy in quilting, hook rug making, creating fine art, playing bridge and tennis, playing and watching golf, reading the New York Times, and listening to WAMU, her favorite public radio station. She was an avid reader of fiction and mysteries. Later in life, she rekindled her love for making art and participated in the Chestertown RiverArts studio tours where she displayed her works in pastel. She relished vacations and holidays with her family and traveled extensively with friends and family upon her retirement in 2011. She had a passion for food and cooking and loved exploring cultures and cuisines when living in Morocco, Lebanon, Syria, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Sri Lanka throughout her two marriages.
Alice resided in Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland, and abroad before she and Lyell settled on Maryland's Eastern Shore at Cedar Lane Farm off Broad Neck Road. She lived there for 30 years before moving in 2016 to Chestertown's Queen Street where she shared her renovated home with her beloved dog, Leo. She enjoyed many summers over six decades on Mason's Island in Mystic, Connecticut with her children, grandchildren, and extended family.
Her children thank the dedicated staff of Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, Smilow Cancer Center, Mystic Fire Department, Heron Point's Willow Brooke Court Skilled Care Center, and Compass Hospice for their care of Alice during her battle with cancer.
In lieu of flowers, her family encourages donations to the Friends of the Kent County Library or to the United Way of Kent County.
A memorial service for Alice will be held Saturday, September 21st at 2:00pm at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 7579 Sandy Bottom Road, Chestertown, Maryland 21620