She had lived most recently in Paoli, but was a long-time resident of the Overbrook section of Philadelphia and of Wynnewood. She also had a summer home, Clanhaven, in Eagles Mere, Pa.

Originally from Woonsocket, R.I., Mrs. Curtin came to the Philadelphia area in 1952 to teach at Rosemont College after earning her master's degree from Catholic University of America.

The next year she met her future husband, John, then an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, on a blind date.

Her son Philip recalled that his father tells a story about how he caught her peeking down the stairs to see what he looked like when he arrived to get her.

"I guess she approved, because she went on the blind date," he said. The couple married on Thanksgiving 1953.

Mrs. Curtin taught for five years at Rosemont and another 25 years at Peirce College in Center City.

After having five children, Mrs. Curtain and her husband adopted a 10-year-old boy and opened their home to two other foster children.

In the 1960s, Mrs. Curtin, a Catholic activist, was part of a group of women who spoke out for racial reconciliation at a time of heightened tensions.

She also worked many long hours for the American Red Cross from 1975 to 1985, her family said.

Although born and raised in the sphere of influence of Boston's sports teams, Mrs. Curtain became a devoted follower of the teams in her adoptive hometown.

"She loved them through and through," son Philip said. "We even decorated her room at the hospice with Phillies gear."

Her family said she loved to go to their summer home, taking her children and grandchildren on hikes around the lake.

When walking became difficult, she decided to go no more, preferring instead to "keep those precious memories in her heart," another son, Andrew, said in an e-mail.

Besides her sons and husband, she is survived by daughters Claire Keefe and Mary E. Curtin, son Robert, and nine grandchildren. Another son, Thomas, died in 1997.

A memorial Mass was said yesterday at St. Norbert's Church in Paoli. Interment was private.