Elizabeth (Lisa) Heun Locke
October 2, 1942 – August 7, 2026
Elizabeth (Lisa) Heun Locke, 83, of Corinth, Vermont, died on August 7, 2026, in Kittery, Maine, of pancreatic cancer. She was born on October 2, 1942, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to Howard Thurston and Mary (Gentry) Heun.
Lisa grew up in the Washington, D.C. area and graduated from The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and her Master of Arts in Art History from The American University, Washington, D.C.
After graduating from Wellesley, Lisa followed her interest in foreign languages to a government career near Washington, D.C., where she met Allen William Locke of Wellesley, Massachusetts, in their shared carpool. Allen and Lisa married in Washington, D.C., in 1966, and together they had three children: Emily Gentry Locke, and twins Caroline Fuller Locke and William Howard Locke.
When her children entered school, Lisa returned to Madeira as Director of Alumnae Relations. Deeply connected to Madeira’s traditions, Lisa had a gift for bringing people together. She fostered a vibrant community that kept alumnae connected to one another and to current students, faculty, and the enduring principles at the heart of girls’ secondary education.
After she retired in 2002, Lisa and Allen moved to the generational farm in Vermont. Lisa promptly set about doing what she did everywhere: building community. She formed a close circle of friends through her volunteer work at the Blake Memorial Library in East Corinth and her many interests, including hiking, kayaking, gardening, and playing (delightfully competitive) games. She also kept up with her D.C., Wellesley, and Madeira friends, meeting them for reunions and get-togethers, including training for and completing several New York City and Marine Corps marathons.
Lisa embraced the joy of a walk in nature with good companions, and, with friends and family, enjoyed many long distance walking trips across the UK and Europe. She had barely returned from one trip before planning her next. A lifelong learner and naturalist, she was the friend everyone wanted on a trip: the one who knew the birds by call and the flowers by proper name, and could turn any walk into an essential guide to wherever you happened to be.
After her cancer diagnosis, Lisa relocated to Kittery, Maine, to be closer to treatment at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Wanting something positive to come from her illness, she participated in a clinical trial evaluating a new form of treatment for pancreatic cancer, hoping to expand treatment options for others facing the same diagnosis.
Lisa will be deeply missed for her thoughtfulness, diplomacy, positive attitude, talent for turning strangers into friends, and ability to make the places she loved a little warmer, livelier, and better than she found them. She will be remembered with a cat on her lap, a stack of books nearby, and pots of plants waiting for the next new flower bed.
Lisa was predeceased by her husband, Allen; her parents, Howard and Mary Heun; her sister, Margo Bradford; and her cousin, Rob Knowlton.
She leaves behind two daughters, Emily Gentry Locke of Washington, D.C., and Caroline Fuller Locke of Corinth, Vermont; a son, William Howard Locke (Ron DeVries) of Kittery, Maine; cousins Joe Knowlton, Steve Knowlton, Lindy Biggs, Kaye Edwards, and extended family; and close friends from every chapter of her life.
A gathering to celebrate Lisa will be held September 26th at 2 p.m. at the Locke Farm in Corinth, Vermont, and will be followed by a reception. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Madeira School, 8328 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22102, or the Blake Memorial Library, 676 Village Road, P.O. Box D, East Corinth, VT 05040.