Broches, Alexandra
DATELINE: South Kingstown
Broches, Alexandra, 81, died Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at Brookdale South Bay. She was the beloved wife of Darrell Matsumoto for 40 years. Born in Manhattan, NY, a daughter of the late Aron and Catherina (Pothast) Broches, she had lived in Wakefield since 1968. She was a fine art photographer, exhibited widely and a professor at various colleges, retiring over 15 years ago. Alexandra earned a B.A. from Bennington College, an M.A. in Art History from Hunter College, and an MFA in Visual Art from Vermont College. She was a founding member of Hera Gallery and Hera Educational Foundation.
Devoted mother of Rachel Calabro and her husband, Jason Travers, of Providence. Dear sister of Paul Elias Broches and his wife, Julie Spain, of NYC. Loving grandmother of Pepper and Michael. Cherished aunt of Rebecca and Emma and great-aunt of Sadie and Clara.
Graveside services will be held Monday at 11:00 a.m. in New Fernwood Cemetery, 3102 Kingstown Rd. (Rt. 138), Kingston, RI 02881. Shiva will be private. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to Hera Gallery Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 336, Wakefield, RI 02880.
To view a recording of the service, please click here.
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Shalom Memorial Chapel
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Cranston, RI 02920
(401) 463-7771
(877) 463-7771
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Darrel, Please accept my deepest condolences on the loss of Alexandra, your beautiful wife of so many years, a woman of intelligence, generosity and talents that I remember so well. John and I enjoyed many times with you two in the beautiful gardens Alexandra nurtured, and as models in your curious photo projects. The suppers we shared at your table were always a treat, and I was included in several Hera exhibits years ago. Alexandra will be in my thoughts tomorrow and beyond. She will not b3 forgotten.
We will miss you dear friend. Thank you for gracing our lives.
Stephan & Julie
I have been in touch with Sandra Broches since 2012. We had found photo rolls of a Amsterdam photographer, Annemie Wolff, made in 1943 and were searching for relatives of the persons on the photo’s. We found Paul and Sandra Broches in the US. Sandra had a lot of letters and photo’s and was always willing to search for evidence we were looking for. For her, this also was a way of handling the family history. Darell and Sandra visited us in Amsterdam. The last time with Paul and other family members to place Memory Stones for the murdered members of the family. Sandra was so sweet and careful, you felt how she loved this family members whom she had never met. With Sandra we lost a dear friend. My condolences and that of my familie to you all!
An Huitzing, Amsterdam
I have known Sandra all of my life with many happy memories. I hope those too will sustain everyone, especially you, Darrell. Even if we saw each other sporadically we always connected easily over and over again. If it had to happen this way at least she is not suffering any longer. Sending the whole family lots of love.
Please accept my condolences Darrel. I always saw Alexandra
as a warm, open, welcoming presence and always with a gentle, wise smile. I admired her work immensely. I do wish I had known her better for she seemed certainly to be one who made the world a better place. May her memory bring you joy.
Dear Darrell,
We send you all our warmest thoughts on this sad day of my dear cousin Sandra’s graveside services.
Love and support from Dola and all your family in Denmark, London and Berlin.
Darrell, I am shocked and saddened to hear of Alexandra’s death. We go back to the beginning of HERA and her loss to her family HERA and the art world in unimaginable. Please accept my deepest condolences.
Fran
Dear Darrell,
So terribly sorry for your loss of your life’s companion. Know that you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers. Take good care of each other. Ann Marie
Alexandra gave such elegance and beauty to the world. She managed a beautiful balance of gentle manner and wisdom with a clear and compelling passion for her work. Her gifts to the world and to all of us will be missed. We can begin to manage that loss by sharing those gifts and our talents with others