At 95, Elyse Harney celebrated with Honorary Doctorate

On May 19, Elyse Deublein Harney returned to St. Joseph’s University in New York City, her alma mater, where she graduated in 1952. Before the crowd gathered for the university’s 107th commencement ceremony, the Salisbury resident, entrepreneur and community leader received an honorary doctorate and delivered the commencement address to the Class of 2026.

The recognition arrives at a meaningful moment for the Harney family. In February 2027, Elyse Harney Real Estate will celebrate its 40th anniversary, joining Harney & Sons Fine Teas, co-founded by Elyse and her husband, John, in 1983, as one of two enduring family businesses that have shaped both the region and the family’s legacy.

At a moment when many people are expected to reflect on their accomplishments, Harney used her commencement address to talk instead about possibility.

“God has a job for you,” she told the graduates. “Something that you alone can do.”

That line may very well be the organizing principle of a life that has included hotel management, raising five children, launching two businesses, serving on local boards, helping found the Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service and, somehow, still finding time to reopen conversations about preserving historic institutions.

One of the most striking parts of Harney’s address centered on beginning again.

When she and her husband were 50 years old, the partners of the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, where John was general manager for many years, decided to sell. Suddenly, the couple needed a new source of income.

John launched what would become Harney & Sons Fine Teas, and Elyse opened a real estate office across the street.

“Simple as that, I did,” she told graduates with characteristic understatement.

Of course, anyone familiar with the growth of Elyse Harney Real Estate knows there was nothing simple about it. What began as a small local office became one of the most respected real estate firms in the region, helping define the market across northwestern Connecticut, the Hudson Valley and the Berkshires.

Her commencement address wandered delightfully through subjects that rarely appear together: Nobel Prize-winning genetic research, French entrepreneurs, Catholic education, self-driving cars, German teachers and divine purpose.

At one point, Harney reflected on the women who educated her at St. Joseph’s.

“They made it very clear we could do whatever we wanted to do, if we were willing to work for it,” she said. “Being a woman was not a handicap.”

For graduates entering a world transformed by artificial intelligence, political upheaval and economic uncertainty, Harney offered neither nostalgia nor easy reassurance.

“AI is here,” she said. “We have to learn to use it and to control it.”

After discussing technology, entrepreneurship and faith, Harney turned to the subject of consciousness. Quoting author Michael Pollan, she shared the final lines from his new book, “A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness,” that she said had stayed with her:

“Consciousness is a miracle, truly. It is the most mysterious of things, and yet it can be put in one short sentence: I open my eyes and I see the world.”

Then she offered her final message to the graduates.

“Open your eyes and see the world.”

At 95, Elyse Harney is still opening her eyes and seeing the world. Thankfully, she’s still telling the rest of us what she finds there.