Born July 31, 1935Hartford, CTDied Aug. 6, 2024Englewood, NJDetails of serviceMemorial ServiceSaturday, October 19 at 11 a.m.Westminster West Community Church, Westminster West, VermontFaith Learned Pepe died on August 6th in Englewood, NJ at the Actors Fund Home after a short illness. Born in Hartford Connecticut to Susan Taylor (Goodwin) and John Cheney Learned, she was raised in Manchester and Avon, CT, and attended the Oxford School. After graduating Sarah Lawrence College in 1957, she studied with sculptor  Ossip Zadkine in Paris, France at the Academie de la Grande Chaumière and at Fontainebleau. It was there where she met composer Carmine Pepe who was on a Fulbright Scholarship studying under Nadia Boulanger. They were married in Paris in 1959.Faith and Carmine moved to Fairlee, Vermont in 1965 to teach at the Mountain School, and in 1966 they came to Putney, VT for positions at Mark Hopkins College in Brattleboro. After her divorce in 1972, Faith resided in Putney and Westminster West for the next fifty years, raising her sons Paolo, Neil, and Stefan, and living an active, creative life. During this time she also completed two master’s degrees: one in Women’s Studies from Goddard College and one in American Studies from Boston University.Her house in Westminster West was always filled with art, and was a haven for artists, neighbors, family, and friends. Faith opened her doors to all, and it wasn’t uncommon to find a half dozen assorted visitors having lively conversations around her kitchen table on any given day. She raised her three sons as a single mother in a progressive, rural, women-centric community.Over the course of her life, Faith immersed herself in creative pursuits and feminist causes – a love of the arts was the force that dictated many of her life choices. From her own sculpture and assemblages to her historical writing and education, she defined herself in the act of creating. She published many articles with a focus on Vermont women; some notable titles were Clarina Howard Nichols: Windham County’s First Feminist; The Perfectionists in Putney; and Toward a History of Women in Vermont: An Essay and Bibliography. She curated an exhibit for the Brattleboro Museum titled Indomitable Vermont Women: 1800-1920. She also helped found the Putney Day Care Center in the 1970’s.Faith lived for over twenty years with her partner, artist Roy Lewando. Following Roy’s death in 1998, Faith traveled extensively and created her artwork. During this period, she reunited with her college sweetheart, architect Kenneth Smith, and they were married in 2014. After Ken’s passing in 2016 Faith relocated to New York City to be closer to her sons. She is survived by her three sons Paolo, Neil and Stefan; their wives Melissa, Mary and Sabrina; and six loving grandchildren, Claudia, Gabe, Olivia, Lena, Juliette and Henry.Read the story on VTDigger here: Faith Learned Pepe.