NORWAY – Alice Bennett Cornwall, 96, of Lincoln Street, Paris Hill, a prominent civic leader, business woman and benefactor of Stephens Memorial Hospital in Norway, died Friday, Oct. 1, at Stephens Memorial Hospital.

Born in Renville, Minnesota on Oct. 5, 1907, she was the daughter of Adrian A. and Agnes C. Bennett.

Mrs. Cornwall was educated in Renville schools and attended the University of Minnesota.

Her first husband died in 1944.

In 1954, she married Hamilton O. Cornwall, a manufacturer engaged in the gift and furniture business. They moved the same year from Pelham, N.Y., to the former Mary Birchfield Estate on Paris Hill and established the Hamilton O. Cornwall Co.’s South Paris wood turning mills. Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, the Cornwalls developed a national sales network for their products. They also established a company retail outlet at The Cornwall Shopping Center on Main Street in South Paris. She was among the first women directors of the Chicago Gift Show (1966-68), one of the largest and oldest trade shows of its kind in the nation.

The Cornwall Company was sold in 1967. Mr. Cornwall died in 1969.

Mrs. Cornwall was a dedicated and tireless worker on behalf of Stephens Memorial Hospital. She was a charter member of the hospital’s auxiliary, a past president of the Stephens Memorial Board of Trustees and served as a trustee from 1961 until 1997. Upon her retirement from the Board after 35 years, she was elected the hospital’s first Trustee Emeritus.

She led a variety of fund raising efforts at the hospital. In 1983, she initiated the annual Christmas Tree lighting project, resulting in thousands of dollars being annually donated to the hospital through tree lights purchased in memory or in honor of relatives or friends. The tree lighting fund raiser has been adopted by a number of other hospitals nationwide.

In 1997, she successfully concluded a “Caring Tree” campaign which resulted in a walkway connecting the hospital complex with the new Ripley Medical Arts Center. The structure was named the Alice B. Cornwall Walkway.

For years, she played a role in the recruitment of physicians to the Oxford Hills area. She was recognized on a number of occasions for her contributions to Stephen’s Memorial Hospital. On her 75th birthday, a flagpole was given by her children in her honor, and at the conclusion of her term as chairman of the board, two benches were placed in the hospital courtyard “hoping she would stop and smell the flowers.” The benches and the courtyard are used by patients.

She started the knitting of baby caps for the obstetrics department at SMH so that each new baby went home with a cap. The program continues to the present day.

In 1983, she received the annual Community Service Award presented by the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce. The award recognizes an outstanding citizen in the Oxford Hills area each year.

In December of 1996, she was honored by Rotary International and the Oxford Hills Rotary Club as a Paul Harris Fellow, exceptional for a non-Rotarian. She was cited as exemplifying the Rotary’s “Service Above Self” motto.

In 1998, she chaired the “Have A Seat, Please” campaign, a successful drive for theater seating and acoustical wall at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School Auditorium.

In August 2001, she received the Mary Lou Burns Educational Service Award.

On Oct. 2, 2002 she was given an award for “Women In Public Life.”

Besides her hospital activities, Mrs. Cornwall had a strong interest in the maintenance and preservation of the Paris Hill community. She was a life member and served as president of the Paris Hill Country Club, donating land to enlarge the course and making a number of other contributions to the club. In 1983, she gave 132 acres to the Town of Paris for the Cornwall Nature Preserve with the provision that the land remain “forever green.”

In 1991, after helping establish a trust for the annual recognition of society members, she was made an honorary member of the Oxford Hills High School National Honor Society. Her interest in the honor society led to involvement in helping fund the Oxford Hills School/Community Partnership. She also was a contributor and strong supporter of the Oxford Hills Schools Community Musicals.

Mrs. Cornwall was a member of the Norway-Paris Kiwanis Club.

She was a founder and director of the Oxford Bank and Trust Co. and a contributor to the Growth Council of Oxford Hills.

On the occasion of her 90th birthday in 1997, Gov. King issued a special proclamation in her honor.

She is survived by daughters, Joan Manning, of Coconut Creek, Fla., Barbara Connelly, of Boulder, Co., Pamela Andrews, of Hinsdale, Ill., Christine Letourneau, of Dresden; a son, Stanley Cornwall, of Westport, Mass.; 15 grandchildren; and 18 great-grandchildren.