Else Folsom

Else Kirchner Folsom passed peacefully on August 11, 2026, in Orlando, Florida at age 93. Else was born on September 5, 1932, in Poughkeepsie, New York to German immigrants Ludwig Kirchner and Karoline (Schaefer) Kirchner.

While growing up on a farm in Mt. Carmel, Connecticut, Else became a scholarship student at the Gateway School for Girls in nearby New Haven. While at Gateway, competing against adults at age 16, she became the Connecticut state fencing champion. She continued her education at Vassar College, where she majored in Economics. As head of the Politics club, Else invited and hosted Eleanor Rosevelt who visited and spoke to the college. She then earned a master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

At Harvard, Else met her first husband, Charles McDonald Willett. They were married in 1955 and had four children. They lived in Washington, DC, then in Germany and Austria, and again in Massachusetts, before divorcing in 1972.

Else met her second husband, Paul Shalom Treat, with whom she relocated to Buffalo, New York and then to Evergreen, Colorado. After eight years of marriage, they divorced.

She met and married her third and final husband MacGregor Folsom in Denver, Colorado. They later moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Else and Mac shared 26 happy years until his passing.

Else moved to Orlando, Florida in 2017 where she enjoyed her final years.

Else loved life, the arts, nature, travel, animals, and above all her family and friends. These included cousins and neighbors in the places she lived across the US and beyond. Else approached life with an open heart and mind; she stated that “kindness was her religion” and thought of herself as a world citizen.

Else is survived by her four children (and partners): Margaret Alexander (Debbie Rose), Peter Willett (Catherine Day), Andrew Avalon (Helen), and Suzanne Salzman (Glen), as well as by two stepdaughters Cameron Olen and Dana Milton (Bill). Else is also survived by eight grandchildren and step-grandchildren, including Calvin Willett (Emma Adler), Phoebe Willett (Nikhil Goel), Julian Alexander (Johanna Lozano), James Alexander (Mimmi Franco), Jesse Day (Shan Liu), Moria Perez (William), Cameron Milton (Brittany), and Morgan Milton (Jessica). Else had seven step-great-grandchildren, including Pierce and Christian Perez, Max, Elliot, and Jack Milton, and Sequoia and Sonora Day. Additionally, in her days in Colorado and New Mexico, Else had three “adopted grandchildren” Michael Trent and Nicolas and Luciana Storelli-Castro.

On Saturday, January 16, 2027 at 11:30 a.m., there will be a celebration of life at the Woodlawn funeral home in Gotha, FL. Family and friends are welcome to join. In the following spring or summer, her ashes will be buried next to those of her beloved husband, Mac at the National Cemetery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Donations in her memory may be made to Felines and Friends New Mexico where she enjoyed many hours of volunteer work: www.fandfnm.org