Frances Kosnik Alderson

Married August 6, 1988, Frances Kosnik Alderson, Ph.D., was a devoted wife to George Alderson. Born in Curtis Bay, Maryland on April 16, 1943, Frances was the daughter of the late Edward and Frances Kosnik. She was the proud older sister of the late Edward James Kosnik, Jr., MD (wife: Sally Kosnik), Susan Ross, MD (late husband: Harry Ross, MD), Pat Condron (late husband: David Condron), Mary (Terri) Grace (husband: George (Tom) Grace, MD), and Betsy Shade, MD (husband: David Shade, Esq.).

Frances was an avid student and a lifelong learner. After graduating from high school at 16, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education with a concentration in French at 20 (Mount Saint Agnes College), a Master’s Degree in French at 22 (Middlebury College), and a Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities Education (Foreign Language) at 32 (Ohio State University).

It was when she acted as the substitute teacher for her own high school French class that Frances decided to pursue a career in teaching the language. She studied French in college and then won a Fulbright grant to continue her studies abroad, including by teaching at a high school for girls. The experience kicked off an enduring love of France and its people and annual trips for 60 years to visit her French family and friends. At home, Frances served as president for the Alliance Française de Baltimore for years.

Frances’ innate knack for languages was limitless. She also studied Spanish, German, Russian, Italian, and Czech. Frances used her language education and expertise to enrich the lives of countless students in Baltimore City and Baltimore County Public Schools for nearly thirty years. Later in life, she had the great joy of emailing in German with a former student and NASA astronaut during his time in space.

Frances was a lover of the arts and an accomplished musician. She began playing piano at age 6, graduated from the Peabody Preparatory at age 16, and continued to play and study the piano on her Steinway throughout her life. Into her 80s, she studied under the resident pianist of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. At age 11, she became the organist at St. Athanasius, her parish church. Largely self-taught, she continued to hone her skills as an organist so she could perform at family weddings with her husband, an accomplished violinist. As a teenager, Frances led the St. Athanasius choir (made up of her sisters), sang at daily mass, and dabbled in amateur directing. As an adult, Frances took lessons in harmony and jazz and enjoyed collaborating in chamber music with her husband and their friends. Frances and her husband frequently attended recitals and concerts, including by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Shriver Hall Concert Series, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and especially Peabody, where they started the Edward and Frances Kosnik Scholarship.

Frances was a passionate art historian. Despite little formal training, she became an expert through self-study. She amassed knowledge from her frequent travels abroad, often visiting the locations depicted in the works of great artists, and from her insatiable appetite for museums. For 20 years, Frances excelled as a docent at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Her family looked forward to the annual Christmas tour where her thoughtful assembly of permanent and temporary works managed to captivate her grand-nieces and grand-nephews and attract strangers who joined along the way.

Frances enjoyed curating her own special collections with her husband. They collected oak furniture and prints and drawings by French and American artists. Perhaps Frances’ greatest collection, though, was her garden, which she and her husband spent many hours tending to perfection at their Catonsville home.

Frances – also “Tatee” or “Tati,” an affectionate French term for “aunt” – was a dedicated, supportive aunt. She sent birthday cards every year and was a constant at graduations, baptisms, recitals, concerts, sporting events, and more. She enjoyed and led family singalongs during the holiday season. When a younger generation came along, she reveled in picking out library books specific to each grand-niece and grand-nephew to enjoy during their cherished story time. She leaves through her nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews a legacy of commitment to family, lifelong learning, and love of travel, art, languages, and music.

A public visitation will be held at the family-owned Ambrose Funeral Home, Inc., 1328 Sulphur Spring Road, Arbutus on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Athanasius Catholic Church, 4708 Prudence Street, Curtis Bay on Friday at 10:15 AM. Interment will immediately follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. Donations, in lieu of flowers, may be made in Frances’ name to The Edward and Frances Kosnik Scholarship Fund at Peabody Conservatory of Music, 1 East Mount Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD 21202.