MARIA CHRISTINA “CHRIS” RUNCIE

STARKSBORO — Maria Christina Runcie, always known as Chris, passed away at her home in Starksboro on March 31, 2025. Her life was full of family, music, outdoor adventures, community service, great food, and curiosity about the natural world.

Chris was born on Oct. 12, 1953, to Armando and Liese Dal Molin of Oyster Bay, N.Y. The Dal Molin family were enthusiastic skiers, and Chris fell in love with Vermont during childhood ski trips to Mad River Glen. She graduated from Middlebury College and earned a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied termite foraging behavior. She and her husband Jim Runcie first crossed paths at Middlebury College, reconnected five years later in North Carolina, and stayed together for the next 48 years. Chris and Jim married in Salisbury, Vt., in 1979, moved to Starksboro, had three children, and enjoyed a wonderful, happy life together. Chris’s 50th Middlebury College reunion was to be this summer, and she wrote the following passage about her life for the reunion yearbook:

“I’ve been lucky to have two fulfilling careers. When the children were young, I was a full-time mom focusing on family, friends, and our home life, and volunteering in our small, rural Vermont town. I served on the preschool board, the library board, the Fire Department Auxiliary, and the Watershed Center, volunteered in Robinson Elementary School, and worked successfully to keep the school open when it was threatened with closure. When our youngest was in third grade, I began my second career as an environmental educator, first with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science, and then in 2006, I helped to found the Four Winds Nature Institute. Writing and leading natural science workshops for adults and children has been as rewarding a career as anyone could hope for. It’s always a joy watching kids and adults spying on spiders, netting caddisflies in a stream, popping a hard-boiled egg into a milk bottle (no hands!), or laughing at the puppet shows that introduce each science topic.

“Walking is a big part of our life, and we’ve had some nice vacations that way. We hiked the Tour du Mont Blanc, walked across England, ticked off the 46 Adirondack High Peaks (many during the COVID summers), and hiked to the Ciudad Perdida in Colombia with our four-year-old grandson. Our three children and four grandsons all live out west, for which we blame those Rocky Mountain ski trips when they were teens. We visit frequently and hope to keep on hiking and joining kids and grandkids on their adventures for as long as we can.”

Back home in Vermont, Chris and Jim loved skiing the bumps at Mad River Glen, exploring the woods and fields of Starksboro, and sugaring every spring. Chris’s knowledge of natural history made her the local go-to for questions about bird songs, strange insects, and animal tracks. She was a wonderful hostess and was known for always having a pie in the oven.

Chris was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in early 2024. Her courage, dignity, and humor through her illness were a lesson in grace. During her treatment she befriended the entire oncology and infusion staff of the University of Vermont Medical Center, where she received wonderful and compassionate care. Chris was a truly generous person who built her life around caring for and giving to others. She will be very deeply missed.

Chris is survived by her beloved husband, Jim and her children: Dan, his wife Alexandra and son Matias; Tom, his wife Laurel and sons Luca and Aidan; and Julia, her husband Victor and son Levi. She is also survived by her brother Tony Dal Molin and his wife Kathy Wolff, her sister Francesca Dal Molin, her brother-in-law, John Runcie, and many nieces and nephews. A celebration of Chris’s life will be held on May 17 at 11 a.m. at the Robinson School playground in Starksboro. More details about Chris’s life and memorial can be found at memorialsource.com/memorial/maria-christina-runcie. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Four Winds Nature Institute. ◊