Judith Sartorius Seixas, generous mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, gregarious friend, and prolific author, died in Weston, Massachusetts on November 2 at the age of 94.

Seixas followed her husband, Frank Seixas, Medical Director of the National Council on Alcoholism, into advocacy on alcoholism issues, publishing the widely read Children of Alcoholism: A Survivor’s Manual (1985) and, for young readers, Alcohol: What it is: What it does (1977). She held a Masters in Psychology from Columbia University.

She lived most of her adult life in the village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, where she raised her three children and volunteered in the local library and schools. She cultivated deep friendships, but also made “new best friends” after chance encounters in the grocery store or on an airplane. She particularly looked for companions who could converse in French, taking pride in her Parisian accent. She was an avid flautist, convening a bi-weekly amateur chamber music group in the family living room. She supported cultural exchange, opening her home to a succession of students from France, the Seychelle Islands, Curaçao as well as Mississippi.

She spent summers in the Springs, New York, where she pioneered the concept of shabby chic in a beach house she bought for $6,000 before the area became “The Hamptons.” She delighted in lobster dinners with houseguests and skinny dips in Gardiner’s Bay whenever the coast was clear. She presided with grace and good humor as matriarch to her adult children and their families who filled the house to overflowing for many summers.

She was the oldest of three children of Irving (“Chick”) and Edythe Carr Sartorius. When she was eight, her family moved from New York City to then exurban Harrison, NY. Her father was the principal of Sartorius and Company, and had a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. She attended Fieldston School and Carleton College.

She is survived by her three children Peter (Susan Inman) of Vancouver, Canada, Abby (Mark Horowitz) of Weston MA, Noah (Dana Standish) of Seattle WA, six grandchildren, one great-grandchild, her sister, Brenda Engel of Cambridge MA, her cousin, Susan Hirschman in New York City and five half-siblings. The family thanks all her caregivers from the past several years at Sunrise of Weston.

A celebration of Judy’s life will be held December 11, 2016 at 2:00pm at the Weston Community Center, 20 Alphabet Lane, Weston, MA.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Accabonac Protection Committee, 956 Springs Fireplace Road, East Hampton, NY 11937.

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