Alma Grew – An Inheritance of French, Writing and Classical Music

Alma Grew was born in Boston into a home full of classical music, literature and writing, learning and a special fondness for all things French. Alma followed in her father's footsteps, becoming a French teacher and then a writer. From her mother, a supporter of the Boston Symphony, and grandmother, a concert singer, Alma inherited not only her given name but also her love of music. To this mix she added a love of horseback riding and cats plus an interest in horticulture. With gifts from her mother in reference to a family joke, she started a life-long quirky collection of alligator memorabilia! She was an avid swimmer, and became a devoted listener and supporter of public radio.

Alma Grew knew and treasured the power of music. She took advantage of the impact of music in her own life, keeping the WMHT-FM on throughout the day and evenings to help keep her spirits up and her creative juices flowing at her home in Stockbridge, MA.

She valued the influence of music so highly that she continually invested her material wealth in keeping the music on the airwaves, to bolster her and her community's mental and spiritual health. Alma was a long-time donor to WMHT, becoming first a Benefactor's Circle and then an Edison Society donor, and finally, to help ensure her beloved classical music could keep going long after she was gone, she wrote WMHT-FM into her will.

This decision to make a bequest to WMHT for "its general purposes" was a way for Alma to extend her love of classical music to the entire listening area. She was not shy about expressing her affection for classical music (especially Mozart). She often cited its constant presence in her home in her periodic columns about the humor of daily life in the Berkshire Eagle, the Hartford Courant, and the Women's Times.

Alma's delight in classical music lives on, not only from her initial bequest, but through on-going gifts from the charitable trust she set up with much of her estate. WMHT and her other four charities (to music, libraries and her college), continue to receive generous gifts each year through her charitable trust. Alma lived her inheritance and it lives on each time any listener tunes into WMHT-FM.

WMHT is grateful to Alma Grew for her decades of giving that continue to allow WMHT to be this region's Classical Companion.