Valerie Margolis

North Hampton - Valerie Margolis, 61, died Thursday, August 7, 2014 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers, MA. She was born in Boston on July 1, 1953, a daughter of Diane Seyfort-Ruegg Kensler of North Hampton and the late Morton Margolis. Valerie spent her early childhood in Lexington, MA, and, after her mother remarried to Dr. Charles Kensler, her family moved to North Hampton. Here at Ryegate, her mother and stepfather’s farm, she rode and trained horses and engaged in other sports as well. She attended Winnacunnet High School in Hampton, Phillips Exeter Academy and Boston University. Descended from an artistic family on both sides—her father, a painter, professor and composer; her maternal grandmother an established painter trained in Europe—Valerie honed her skills at the Art Students League in New York under the tutelage of Robert Beverly Hale. A painterly minimalist, she exhibited her paintings, wall sculptures and digital images in many shows and venues around the country, primarily in the Northeast, especially New York, and the United Kingdom. Her involvement in the arts guided her toward membership on the boards of several arts associations, including the Mill Pond Center for the Arts in New Hampshire, The Art Students League in New York and the New England Artists’ Congress. Throughout her later adulthood, she devoted herself to cycling for fitness while also competing at the regional and national levels. This she supplemented with various adventurous hikes in New Mexico, Utah and Scotland, finding those in Moab, Utah the most spiritually rewarding. In addition to her mother, Valerie leaves her stepmother, Lillian Margolis of Andover, MA; her sisters, Nadia Margolis, a writer and scholar of Rockland, ME and Aimée Margolis, an arts producer in New York City and her husband Doron Margolis; her niece Amelia Margolis and nephew Max Margolis, both of New York City; her half-brother John Margolis, an architect in Los Angeles; her stepbrothers: Dr. Thomas Kensler, his wife Dr. Nancy Davidson and their children Caroline and Kevin of Pittsburgh, PA, and Harry L. Curtis III, his wife Laurie and their children Parker, Susannah and Eliza of Pennington, NJ. Family and friends may visit from 10 to 11 AM on Sunday, October 12, 2014 in the Remick & Gendron Funeral Home, Hampton. A Celebration of Life Service will follow the visitation starting at 11 am in the funeral home. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the New Hampshire SPCA, P.O. Box 196, Stratham, NH 03855.

Valerie Margolis

July 1, 1953 - August 7, 2014