Anne Iskrant, retired Cabrini professor, international educator, and champion dragon boat paddler, has died at 82
She spoke English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, and Dutch, and she and her husband were leaders in the Marshall Legacy Institute’s humanitarian efforts in Bosnia and elsewhere around the world.
Anne Iskrant, 82, formerly of Ardmore, retired adjunct professor of comparative literature and film at Cabrini University, lifelong international educator, longtime trustee, vice president, and program director at Main Line School Night, former English teacher at Shipley School, champion dragon boat paddler, mentor, and volunteer, died Monday, Jan. 6, of breast cancer at her home in Gladwyne.
Born and reared in Summit, N.J., and a onetime fourth-grade teacher at the prestigious Brearly School in Manhattan, Ms. Iskrant moved to Philadelphia in 1976 with her husband, John. She had spent months over the previous few years living in Colombia, Holland, Spain, and Israel, and she was an expert in international education and a trustee for the innovative World Learning Inc.
When she arrived in Center City and, two years later, in Ardmore, she brought her worldwide sensibility with her. She spoke English, Spanish, French, Hebrew, and Dutch, and she and her husband were leaders in the Marshall Legacy Institute’s humanitarian efforts in Bosnia and elsewhere around the world.
They traveled to all seven continents over the years and represented the MLI at many national conferences. They celebrated an anniversary in Egypt one year, and Ms. Iskrant told the Cabrini school newspaper: “We went in 2000, but we traveled back 5,000 years.”
An MLI colleague told her husband: “I loved watching her as she never met a stranger.” He said: “She seemed to establish an immediate rapport regardless of the other person’s culture.”
One of her most popular courses at Cabrini was “Voices of Other Cultures,” and she told the student newspaper: “When I teach I like asking questions I don’t know the answers to. I tell my students to go into their closest and look at the labels on their clothes. I ask them: ‘Do you know where that place is located in the world?’”
Earlier, she taught English at Shipley School. On LinkedIn, she called herself an “independent education management professional.” Her husband said: “She was a wonderful teacher, vital and engaged. She was a good role model.”
She served on the board of directors for the Main Line School Night from 1994 to 2012 and was featured on the cover of one of its 1995 class catalogs. Former colleagues called her “cherished” and “beloved” in an online tribute and said: “We will always hold Anne in our hearts for her valuable contributions to MLSN and our community of lifelong learners.”
Ms. Iskrant always loved the water, and she found a new niche after her diagnosis with the Philadelphia Flying Phoenix women’s dragon boat team. She paddled with other breast cancer survivors in their boat, Against the Wind, for more than two decades and earned trophies and gold medals in the United States, Australia, Italy, and Canada. Teammates called her a “positive, can-do, kind person” and a “classy, wonderful, inspirational woman” in Facebook tributes.
One friend said: “Anne was a real warrior on the water and a sweetheart everywhere.” Lynn Marks, a friend and teammate, said: “Anne was a gem of a human being with a radiant smile and nonintimidating brilliance.”
“Her enthusiasm for the sport and for her BCS crew was immeasurable. We will miss you Anne. We will carry you in our hearts and our boat forever.”
John Iskrant said: “She was beautiful in every sense of the word.”
Anne Forsyth Sonnekalb was born April 11, 1942. She earned a bachelor’s degree in government and English from Smith College in Massachusetts in 1964 and a master’s degree in Russian history later at the New School for Social Research in New York.
She married Albert Vilar, and they divorced later. She met John Iskrant in 1974 when they visited a mutual friend in the hospital at the same time. He was smitten.
They married July 4, 1976, and had a daughter, Caroline, and a son, Stephen. She welcomed her husband’s daughter, Katherine, into her family, and they lived in Ardmore for 46 years before she and her husband moved to Waverly Heights in Gladwyne last year.
Ms. Iskrant played tennis and was active with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Penn Museum, the Lower Merion Conservancy, Project HOME, and other organizations. She looked forward to reunions every five years with former college classmates and was featured as the October 2015 Smithie of the Month by the Smith College Club of Philadelphia.
Friends called her Sonny when she was young due to her maiden name, and later she enjoyed prosecco with friends and wandering around national parks with her husband. “She was ebullient, inquiring, and radiant,” he said, “bright and always cheerful.”
In addition to her husband and children, Ms. Iskrant is survived by a grandson and other relatives. A sister died earlier.
A celebration of her life is to be held later.
Donations in her name may be made to Project HOME, 1515 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130.