Edith Twombly Eddy
June 28, 1942-Sept. 4, 2026
Palo Alto, California

Longtime Palo Alto resident Edith Twombly Eddy died peacefully on September 4, with her husband at her side.

Born in 1942 in New York City, the youngest of three children of Gray Twombly and Mary Forester Field, Edie attended the Brearley School, Milton Academy, Swarthmore College, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She moved to Palo Alto in 1971 and to Channing House in 2023.

Edie's early career focused on education, including classroom teaching in Germany and the Philippines, college admissions at Swarthmore College, and support of partnerships between student researchers at Stanford and non-profits in Palo Alto and the surrounding community. With the birth of her two children in the early 70s, she became active supporting professional identity and career opportunities for working mothers. She was a pioneer in the childcare movement in Palo Alto and played a central role launching the CCSC childcare center on the Stanford University campus. She also worked on job-sharing opportunities for working mothers and advised the City in promoting the availability of childcare services city-wide.

The highlight of her professional career was her work for philanthropic foundations, including serving as a program officer at the Packard Foundation and, later, as the executive director of the Compton Foundation. Through this work she supported grantmaking in such fields as environmental conservation, restorative justice, the rights of women and children, and world peace. She belonged to countless professional associations, a few of which included serving as the chair of the Environmental Grantmakers Association, establishing the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity, and founding the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights. She launched the Compton Fellows program, which supported transformative leaders working in peace, the environment, reproductive rights, and racial restorative justice.

In the context of her abiding love of birds and her passion for supporting healthy ecosystems in the Palo Alto Baylands and elsewhere, she served on the board for the Point Reyes Bird Observatory, the Coyote Point Museum, and the National Wildlife Refuge Association. She took a number of special trips to wildlife refuges across the country to witness giant flocks of migratory waterfowl.

Edie dedicated much of her life to empowering others and bringing people together – her co-workers, her mentees, her community, her dear friends, and her family. She expressed a profound warmth of character that invited trust and, always, inclusivity; she cultivated grace and wisdom, knowing just the right moment to articulate an insight, offer a comforting touch, spur action, or to just be silent. She was an active participant in two church communities – at First Presbyterian Church and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Palo Alto.

Edie had an artist’s heart – she took great joy in singing, dancing, painting, and gardening. Through these forms she made a point of building and sharing with her community, encouraging others to join her in the joy of creative expression. She also wrote and illustrated a handful of unpublished children’s books.

She is survived by her loving husband of 59 years, Jeb, her brother Bob Twombly, sons Matthew (wife Sarah Pelmas) and Jeremy (wife Cathy Carr), four grandsons – Owen, Tucker, Will, and JB – and many cousins, nieces, nephews and cherished friends.

In lieu of flowers, friends are invited to make a donation in Edie’s memory to Acterra (www.acterra.org) or to the Squam Lakes Association (www.squamlakes.org).