Northampton , MA – Denise Rochat, 77, a longtime Northampton resident and professor emerita of French Studies at Smith College, died peacefully in Grafton, Vermont, on September 11, 2026, after an unexpected and brief battle with brain cancer.
Born and raised in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Denise came to the United States as a young woman and built a life centered on languages, literature, teaching, family, and friendship. She earned her Ph.D. in French literature from Brown University and joined the Department of French Studies at Smith College in 1981, where she taught until her retirement in 2007.
Denise was a gifted, charismatic, and demanding teacher who inspired generations of students. She was recognized in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and received Smith College’s Senior Faculty Teaching Award in 1999, among other honors.
Denise was first married to José Felix, a Portuguese cardiologist, with whom she had her son, Claudio Rochat-Felix. She later married Charles (Carlo) Robertson, a professor of Government at Smith College, with whom she shared her life until his death in 2021.
She is survived by her son, Claudio Rochat-Felix, and granddaughter, Zella Felix, both of Carlsbad, California; her stepdaughters, Katy Robertson of Conway, Massachusetts, Jenny Young of Arlington, Massachusetts, and Christina Whitehead of Atlanta, Georgia; and dozens of close friends whom she loved dearly and considered part of her extended family.
After receiving her diagnosis, Denise chose to pursue Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) in Vermont, a decision that allowed her to preserve a sense of dignity and agency at the end of her life. Knowing that she could choose when and how her life would end gave her the freedom to spend her remaining time fully and intentionally with the people she loved, and ultimately to die peacefully, with clarity and on her own terms.
Denise will be remembered for her intelligence, wit, independence, exacting standards, fierce loyalty, and the extraordinary warmth she extended to those she loved.
A memorial bench honoring Denise will be placed in Childs Park in Northampton. In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor her memory are invited to make a donation to Look Park at https://lookpark.org/about/support/.
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