Alice Louise (Spencer) Weiss was born on 9 July 1903 to Carol Alice Eyestone and Robert W. Spencer in Albia, Iowa.   The family moved in 1905 to Ft. Morgan, Colorado, where Robert W. Spencer was the publisher for the Ft. Morgan Times.                                                                                                                                                                                                              

After beginning her studies at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Alice continued her education at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and earned her Bachelor of Music in 1925 and her Master of Music in 1926.  During her years at Oberlin, Alice was a member of the College’s Musical Union and the Women’s Glee Club.

At the Oberlin Conservatory, Alice was a student of Professor George W. Andrews (b. 1861, d. 1932), a prominent composer and organist.  A personal letter from Professor Andrews, dated 9 June 1926, documents his delight in having Alice as a student.  Another acquaintance was Professor Edward Dickinson (b. 1870, d. 1946).  Although he retired from the faculty as professor of history and criticism of music in 1922, he attended a graduate piano recital given by Alice in 1926.  In a letter dated 6 June 1926, he praised the composition, and was ‘taken with its charm’.  Both letters offer comment on the positive aspects of her recital, and record best wishes in seeing her perform at a graduate level.

From 1926-1929, Alice was an appointed instructor of pianoforte and theory at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa. During her tenure at Cornell College, Alice married fellow teacher Karl Erwin Weiss (d. 1957) on 14 June 1929.  Karl, from Buffalo, New York, attended the Eastman School of Music and graduated in 1926.  During the years 1929-1930, Alice and Karl studied in Munich, Germany under Josef Pembaur and in 1930 returned to the United States and settled in Tacoma, Washington.

During the next twenty-one years, Alice taught music, performed at concerts, played organ at church, and maintained the Weiss household. She held a position at the Annie Wright Seminary and was on the Pacific Lutheran College (later called the Pacific Lutheran University) faculty as a piano instructor.  Alice served as the organist for the First Lutheran Church in Tacoma and was a member of the Guild of Organists.  Karl Weiss was a professor of music at the Pacific Lutheran College in Tacoma.  Alice and Karl Weiss had two daughters, Dorthea (b. 24 January 1938) and Maria (b. 24 November 1942).

As a pianist, Alice performed with the St. Cecilia Club as the accompanist from the years 1931-1935 and her husband served as the conductor.  She was also the solo pianist for a concerto performed with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra in 1933.

Alice (Spencer) Weiss died 8 June 1951 of cancer in Tacoma, Washington.

The finding guides for the Edward Dickinson Papers (30/25) and George W. Andrews Papers (30/54); Alice L. Weiss (nee Spencer) student file (28/2).