Wende A. Alford

Wende Adam Alford was a proud and devoted daughter, sister, wife, mother, and grandmother known for her deep love of family and her easy, upside-down smile. Put simply, Wende knew how to have fun, and people loved to be in her orbit, reveling in her humor, her creativity, and her direct style. A lifelong Buffalonian, she loved the outdoors and spent her younger years engaged in a range of winter and summer sports. She was an active tennis player, and she enjoyed paddle tennis, and skiing. Most of all, she loved being in or on the water. She was a natural swimmer, and she and her husband owned a series of boats as members of the Buffalo Yacht Club. She also spent many happy days with family and friends on the shores of Dotty Lake and Georgian Bay in Ontario. In her later years, she and her husband bought a summer home in Vermont where she spent time with her family, pursued her passion for flowers, and relived fond memories of her grandmother’s farm in Alden.

She was born in Buffalo as Wende Stevens Adam, the oldest of Robert B. Adam and Ann Wende Adam’s four daughters. In 1867, her great grandfather founded the Adam, Meldrum and Andersen (AM&A’s) department stores which her family ran over five generations.

She met her future husband and love of her life, J. Keith Alford, when her younger sister and his younger brother fixed them up on a New Year’s Eve date. They were married for 57 years before his death in 2020.

Wende served on the boards of the Junior Board of Buffalo General Hospital, the Maria Love Convalescent Fund and Elmwood Franklin School, of which she was a graduate. She also attended the Buffalo Seminary, and graduated from the Westover School in Middlebury, CT and Briarcliff Junior College in Briarcliff, NY. She was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Her greatest love was for her family. She adored her parents and sisters and maintained close relationships with them throughout her life, and she often shared wonderful memories and stories from her childhood. She was a creative and fun mother, building forts with her three kids and teaching them to ski. She also was a proud and devoted grandmother whose seven grandchildren called her “Ninnie,” the same name she used for her own beloved grandmother. In Vermont, each was treated to a week-long summer “Camp Ninnie” experience with their grandparents where they created cherished memories hanging out and laughing with “Nin.”

Wende is survived by her children Ann Alford, Scott (Julie) Alford and James (Jackie) Alford; grandchildren Mimi (Tyler) Tagliaferro, Sarah (LeeAnne) Pedrick, Thomas (Rachel) Kittross, and Jack, Grace, Ben and Natalie Alford; sisters Bonnie (Nick) Hopkins, Trudy (Van) Mollenberg, and Robbie (Len) Hall, brother-law Bryant, (Susie) Alford, and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. A private family service will be held.