Alice Wick Hall of Cambridge and Chilmark, died Tuesday evening, July 31 at Mt. Auburn Hospital after sudden respiratory complications. The night before, she had enjoyed the company of friends and family at a dinner. She was 90.

While Alice had steadily declined physically and mentally in recent years, she enjoyed an active and adventurous last summer, thanks to the determined attention of her caregiver Susan Ellison and her daughter Amanda. Though confined to a wheelchair, she bathed in her beloved ocean, floated in Walden Pond, went for many ice creams, shopped for books and got caught in a rainstorm.

Independent and physically active, she could be harsh with a critique or command. She was also fiercely loyal to her friends and had a deep love for her children. Though married twice, she lived the majority of her life by herself.

Born in Cleveland, Ohio on Oct. 25, 1927 to Frances and Myron Wick, she had the misfortune to lose both her father at age three and her stepfather at 17. A graduate of Hathaway Brown and Vassar College, Alice did scientific research in New York city before her marriage to Carroll (Curly) Bowen in 1954. Travel was a big part of their early married life with their honeymoon in Europe a high point in their time together. When they moved to Chicago, Alice received her degree in library science from the University of Chicago. A world tour with their three children followed in 1960, including an extended stay in Bangkok, Thailand.

The family settled in Cambridge and some years later, divorcing Curly in 1966, Alice became a single mother while working full time — first for Project Mac and then as science librarian, both at MIT. It was during this period that she began to work assiduously on photography — a creative pursuit that would stay with her well into her 80s. A second marriage to John Hall ended in 1978 and she embarked on a nearly 40-year period of solitary living except for the many tenants who would become a part of her life. She was supportive of women who strive to be independent, educate themselves and make their way in the world. She was a student of Buddhism, a lifelong yoga practitioner, a Baroque music aficionado, an extensive traveler, a contributor to liberal causes, and a board member of The Women’s Well.

Alice is survived by her sister, three children and their spouses, as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In her memory, donations may be made to the Photographic Resource Center of Cambridge, NARAL or the Cambridge Public Library Foundation.