Alice M. DeHater; Retired Educator

Alice M. DeHater, retired director of elementary education for the Burbank Unified School District, has died at a Burbank hospital. She was 85.

A longtime Burbank resident, Mrs. DeHater died Saturday of heart failure, said her daughter, Mary Ellen Herndon of Burbank.

Born in Galesburg, Ill., Mrs. DeHater earned a bachelor’s degree from Mt. St. Joseph’s College in Dubuque, Iowa, in 1926 and a master’s degree from USC in 1933. She began her teaching career in 1926 at Miller School in Burbank and later taught at John Muir Junior High School. She also served as principal of three other elementary schools. Mrs. DeHater was director of elementary education from 1964 until her retirement in 1971. At various times, she had also taught education classes at USC and UCLA.

She was a member and past president of Delta Kappa Gamma, the Southern California Art Assn., the Southern California Audio-Visual Assn. and the Quota Club of Burbank. She held memberships in the Los Angeles Providencia Guild, PEO Sisterhood, Burbank Schools Administration Assn., Burbank Historical Society and California Retired Teachers Assn. She was also co-chairman of the Hollywood Bowl Children’s Summer Festival from 1972-77.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. DeHater is survived by her brother, Jack Phelan of Washington; sisters Frances Phelan of Burbank, Eleanor Hastings of Burbank and Sister Mary Benedict Phelan of Chicago, and three grandsons.

A memorial Mass is scheduled for 7 p.m. today at St. Robert Bellarmine Church, 133 North 5th St., Burbank, where she was a former teacher and past president of the religious education board. Private burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City. Scovern Mortuary in Glendale is handling the arrangements.