Elisabeth (Liese) Dal Molin
1922 - 2009
Liese attended Hunter College High School in NYC, and at the age of 16, enrolled as a music major at the University of Vermont. Having skied and hiked with her family in the Alps as a child, Liese was quick to join the UVM Outing Club and had many happy memories of hiking in the Adirondacks and Green Mountains. Later she transferred to Black Mountain College, an experimental school in Asheville, NC, which attracted many prominent artists and writers, and spurred the progressive education movement.
During the war, Liese returned to NYC where she worked for the USO and volunteered as a nurse’s aide at Bellevue Hospital. Then, pursuing her interest in music, she became employed by the Marx Music Publishing company. It was while representing her company at a Worlds Fair of Music, that she met Armando Dal Molin. He was exhibiting his invention, the Music Writer, a typewriter for music, in the neighboring booth. After a first missed date (he got lost finding the coffee shop), they went on to marry in 1949, a marriage that lasted for 54 years until Armando’s passing in 2003. Together they formed the music engraving company, Music Typographers, which became both their livelihood and their passion. Liese served as business manager, book-keeper, and editor. She proofread the many thousands of music pages that were produced by the business over the years. With only eight employees, Music Typographers engraved music for the major New York music publishing companies - everything from hymnals to rock and roll sheet music. The close-knit staff was like a second family for the Dal Molins and their children.
Known as Mädi (Little Maid) by her Austrian relatives, Liese was vivacious and outgoing. She loved to converse on many subjects and could put anyone at their ease. She had a wonderful sense of humor, enjoyed making puns on words and could be counted on to inject her lively spirit into any conversation. She had a creative nature and enjoyed making costumes, putting on shows for many an occasion, and cooking marvelous meals for family and friends. Liese loved music. She and Armando went to the opera and to concerts in NYC. Liese played the recorder and piano, she sang with the church choir for many years, and enjoyed singing carols and folksongs with her children and grandchildren.
Together Liese and Armando enjoyed an active life playing tennis throughout the year with friends in Oyster Bay. They especially enjoyed ski trips to New Zealand, Italy, Chile, and Colorado with the 70+ Ski Club. When they retired to Middlebury, they loved being near the Snow Bowl where they made daily trips all winter long. They loved traveling to visit children and grandchildren, and especially summer visits for 50 years to the rocky coast of Vinalhaven, Maine.
Liese is survived by her son Tony Dal Molin and his wife Kathy Wolff of Portland, Oregon, her two daughters, Christina Runcie and her husband James of Starksboro, VT, and Francesca Dal Molin of the Netherlands, her sister Catherine Kulka, her brother Michael Kulka, and by seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild. She was predeceased by her brother Dr. J. Peter Kulka and husband Armando Dal Molin.