Adelaide McKenzie Moss, 83, died May 12, 2026 in Abingdon, VA. Adelaide was born in New York City; the family moved to New Canaan, CT when she was 5.

She attended local public schools through the 9th grade, and grades 10 through 12 at Chatham Hall School in Chatham, VA. Adelaide went to college at Hollins College in Roanoke, VA where she majored in art history and spent her junior year on Hollins Abroad in Paris, France. By this time France was in her soul.

For the next two years she was a flight attendant with Pan-Am Airways on flights from New York City to cities around the world. She lived in New York City, and married John Ivan S. Mirsky; they had two children, Nicholas and Alexander. She became close with John’s family in southern France; they visited France often and the French relatives visited New York. She worked as a tennis instructor, a kindergarten teacher at All Souls School, a computer programmer at Columbia University, and a programming instructor. She was a photography enthusiast and set up a dark room in her New York apartment. She was an avid birdwatcher, recording birds from her travels, and from Central Park, in her Audubon book. Her boys remember spotting their first bald eagle, on a trip around Nova Scotia, where they stayed at ocean side campgrounds, gathering wild blueberries for pancakes and making stops for lobster rolls.

In 1986, she married Dyer S. Moss and moved to Northfield, MA where her husband was a guidance counselor; before long they moved to nearby Winchester, NH, surrounded by nature. Here she added many new birds to her Audubon list; grew flowers and vegetables in their garden, went hiking and snowshoeing, and returned to her passion for painting-- landscapes and nature scenes; also houses, barns, portraits and still lifes. For 15 years Adelaide was a master tour guide at Historic Deerfield, MA.

In 2004 Adelaide and Dyer moved to Abingdon, VA. Within a week she had joined the Arts Depot’s Wednesday Painters group. She took and taught numerous courses at the College for Older Adults. The Proletariat Readers Book Club was a favorite monthly event.

In these groups and elsewhere Adelaide made friends everywhere she went. Outgoing and warm, she had lifelong friendships. She remained very close to friends from her childhood, and from every following chapter. Her sister Katie was a best friend; her boys remember how the sisters would talk on the phone for hours.

Adelaide is survived by her husband Dyer S. Moss, her sons Nicholas and Alexander Mirsky, and her sister Katie Noe.

At a later date there will be a “Celebration of Life” at the Universal Unitarian Church of the Highlands, 28421 Lee Highway, in Meadowview, VA.

Frost Funeral Home and Cremation Services is honored to serve the family of Mrs. Adelaide McKenzie Moss.