Alice Franklin Goyert of Oak Bluffs died peacefully at home surrounded by family on Jan. 2 after a two-year battle with interstitial lung disease. She was 78.

She was born in New York city and spent the first two years of her life with her mother and maternal grandparents in Montclair, N.J. while her father fought in the Pacific during World War II. She then moved back to her ancestral 1749 working farmstead in Noroton, Conn. into a little red house on Nearwater Lane that was designed and built by her father. She grew up there, surrounded by aunts, uncles, cousins, parents and siblings.

She attended Hindley Elementary School and then Low Heywood School, graduating in 1963. She received her associate in arts degree from Centenary Junior College with a major in mathematics. She enrolled at Parsons School of Design to major in graphic design and transitioned after one year to pursue a bachelor of science degree from New York University. She graduated in 1968.

That same year, Alice joined the Blue Hill Troupe theater company as a set and prop designer and met a handsome redhead with a beautiful baritone voice who became the love of her life. John Emmett Goyert Jr. and Alice were married in 1970 in Noroton. Johnny was born in 1974, Wendy in 1975 and daughter Holly arrived in 1981.

Alice had trained and worked with TIAA-CREF as a COBOL computer programmer before joining Union Carbide to design software still used today. She also worked for Olin Corporation, leaving when she became pregnant, though her entrepreneurial spirit only grew. She oversaw construction of a deck house and developed her carpentry skills on the last piece of her family’s farmland. She was an adept handywoman.

During this time, she also co-founded a fresh flower catering business and the Darien Nature Center, which has been thriving ever since.

The family lived for eight years in Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Mexico City. In Brazil, Alice co-founded A Certain Facet, a gem exporting business. While abroad, the family set up their U.S. home base on the Vineyard near Alice’s retired father.

Alice loved nature and was constantly involved with it through her gardening, flower arranging, bird feeding, reading and weeding. Her botanical knowledge and crusade to defend native habitats culminated in her appointment to the Oak Bluffs conservation commission.

As a year-round Island resident, she donated many hours of service to multiple projects and causes: conducting archival research at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, designing T-shirts for The Net Result, preparing more than 1,500 calligraphy birth announcements for the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, and assembling perhaps as many Christmas wreaths as art director to her team at the Federated Church. At the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club, she launched the adult sailing program, managed the tennis program for many years and served as commodore in 1997 and 1998.

She was an avid sportswoman who enjoyed sailing and racing. She played tennis from age eight and was a college singles champion. She grew to love and compete in pickleball, rowing and golf.

She loved her family above all. She was predeceased by her husband John and is survived by her brothers Dick and Peter Franklin — pillars of strength and knowledge — and their families; her children John, Wendy, and Holly and their spouses; and seven strapping grandsons and a cherished granddaughter.

A celebration of life will be held at the start of the 2023 summer season.

Memorial contributions can be sent to Hospice & Palliative Care of Martha’s Vineyard at hospiceofmv.org, the Federated Church of Martha’s Vineyard at federatedchurchmv.org, or BiodiversityWorks at biodiversityworksmv.org.

For online condolences and more information, please visit chapmanfuneral.com.