Mrs. deLancey Moser Converse, of Jamestown, RI, born January 14, 1930, to J. Edgar and deLancey Moser, in St. Louis, Missouri, died on February 16, 2024, in Newport, R.I. at the age of 94. deLancey was comforted by family members who were present at the time of her death. She is survived by one sister, Emily “Mimi” Sharpe; and was preceded in death by her sisters: Elizabeth “Libby” Moser, Ann Floyd Mitchell; and three brothers: Edgar “Eddie” Moser, Robert “Red” Moser, and William A. “Peter” Moser.
deLancey was married in 1952, to the late Edward “Ted” Saunders Funsten, Jr. They had two children, Edward Saunders Funsten III, and deLancey Funsten Whitmer. In 1962, she married the late Costello C. “Cossie” Converse. Together they had one child, Peter deLancey Converse. Cossie brought six stepchildren to the union from two previous marriages. From his first came the late Frederick Royce Converse, Paula Converse, and Roger Wolcott Converse. deLancey and Cossie raised the three boys from Cossie’s second wife whose life was lost to cancer; Christian Costello Converse, Wilson Garrett Converse, and Timothy Stearly Gorham Converse. She also leaves; one grandchild, Grace Funsten Breitenfeld, of Davidson, N.C.; three step-grandchildren, three step-great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.
deLancey graduated from Mary Institute of St. Louis and attended Wellesley College. After raising a family, she received a bachelor’s degree from Fitchburg State College where she majored in Accounting and Russian Language. She traveled to Moscow in 1978, to complement her studies. Later she was employed as a CPA at the accounting firm Dannin and Mendell in Middletown, R.I. Over the years, she was a resident of New York City, Townsend, Mass., and West Palm Beach, Fla.
She was a strong believer in feminism and the civil rights movement. In 1952, deLancey became a Quaker, and performed volunteer work with the American Friends Service Committee. During their year-long wedding trip in Europe and Africa, she and Ted diverted to Holland to assist in emergency relief from the North Sea Flood of 1953. While in New York City in the ’50s, she became ardently involved in the early stages of the civil rights movement and took part in two marches in Washington, D.C., to support the Equal Rights Amendment. She returned to Washington at a later time in support of National Organization of Women.
deLancey co-founded the Fitchburg, Mass., Chapter of Women’s Resource Center, and later served on the board of the Newport County Women’s Resource Center as treasurer. While living in Florida, she performed volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity for many years. She also served as treasurer and trustee of The Vieques Conservation and Historical Trust in Puerto Rico.
In addition to caring for her family, deLancey was a voracious reader and amassed large libraries that she designed and curated with her customary passion and zeal. She was a fierce competitor in games, most notably tennis and bridge, finding games and partners wherever she traveled. She constantly broadened her knowledge of bridge with a large catalog of related books and periodicals.
She was a member of the Conanicut Yacht Club in Jamestown; the Bath & Tennis Club in Palm Beach, Fla.; and the Society of Colonial Dames, both regional and national. deLancey was also a long-standing member of the Jamestown Garden Club.
A memorial and celebration of life will take place in June. In lieu of flowers, donations to Jamestown Philomenian Library would be greatly appreciated, www.jamestownphilomenianlibrary.org/donate.
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