Alice Beasley Hupfel

Alice Beasley Hupfel age 82, died on Friday, May 27, 2022 after suffering from Frontotemporal Degeneration, a type of dementia, for over a decade.

Alice’s true passion was art. She spent thirty years working at The Delaware Art Museum where she created and managed the very successful Art Sales and Rental Gallery and later became the Director of Retail Programs. Her work at the DAM took her to New York and Philadelphia where she made many lifelong friends in the art world. Through these travels, Alice amassed a sizable art collection, many of which were displayed in her beloved home in Chadds Ford, a small museum in itself. As a denizen of the local Wilmington art scene, Alice was a major supporter of her favorite art centers such as The Delaware Contemporary, The Brandywine River Museum, and The Blue Streak Gallery.

Alice was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to the late Warren F. and Matilda VanTrump Beasley. Her family moved to Wilmington in 1945 to her mother’s family homestead since 1845, Point Pleasant Farm, situated near New Castle. Alice attended the Tatnall School and the Tower Hill School, from which she graduated in 1958 and went on to receive an AB degree from Bradford Junior College. Alice married Walter Mott Hupfel Jr. (d. 2012) in 1961 and had three children, Allison, Gretchen (d. 2002), and Mott. When they were all in school until 3pm each day, she enrolled at The University of Delaware where she earned a BA in Art History. After Alice and Mott split in 1986, she reconnected with an old friend Petey Edmiston, with whom she spent many happy years until his death in 2010.

With a big and loving heart, Alice was kind, empathetic, and full of spunk. She made her many friends feel happy and included, and brought fun with her attention. She loved parties, travel, and long walks in the woods with friends and her dogs.

Alice is survived by her daughter Allison Hupfel Porter, her son Walter Mott Hupfel III, her five grandchildren, William, Samuel and Isabelle Porter, and Georgia and Lily Hupfel. She was also a great grandmother to Matilda Porter, they all knew her as Nonnie. Alice remained very close to her sister, Matilda “Junie” Bixby until her death in 2015. Alice is also survived by Junie’s children Roger Scott Bixby Jr., and Lisa Bixby McGillivray.

A memorial celebration will be held on Thursday September 8th. The time and location are undecided as of yet.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the The Delaware Contemporary. Make checks payable to the Delaware contemporary memo – Hupfel endowment fund The Delaware Contemporary 200 S Madison Street Wilmington, DE 19801 Or digitally at https://www.decontemporary.org/hupfel-fund.