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Gladys W. Petersen, 87
Was Summer Resident
Gladys W. Petersen, a July resident of Chilmark since 1971, died June 14 at Fairlawn Nursing Home in Lexington at the age of 87.
She lived in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, until November 1995, when she and her husband moved to Lexington. The family rented the same old farmhouse for 28 years, where she and her husband, Pete, and daughters, granddaughters, sons in law and friends spent many happy hours.
Gladys loved evening sails around Menemsha Pond with Pete in his sunfish. Cheering Pete and Kari as they sailed in the races was a biweekly event. Walking Squibnocket Beach collecting unusual rocks, wampum and beach glass and swimming in Menemsha Pond and from every available beach on the Island were usual. She and her daughters learned and did every imaginable fad craft that came along on the deck of the house. She enjoyed shopping in town, exploring all facets of the Island and sharing huge meals with family and friends. She was an original and faithful customer of the Chilmark swap meet.
After Pete retired 20 years ago, they often returned in the fall to the shores of Menemsha Pond, where she loved gathering fall bouquets and gathering beach plums and grapes which she and Pete turned into jelly.
Martha's Vineyard satisfied one of her dearest dreams -- to live on an island and be surrounded by water. Her happiest times in the last years of her life were here. Swimming in Menemsha Pond enabled her to move freely and painlessly.
She will be missed by her husband, Pete, daughters Karen, Ingrid and Kristin, granddaughters Kari, Rachel and Emily, sons in law Dennis, Fritz and Bruce and grandson in law Jason.
Irene Henley, 88
Was Avid Birder and Angler
Irene Henley died peacefully on Friday, June 15, 2001 at Sunny Acres Nursing Home in Chelmsford. Her friends and family will fondly remember this mighty, courageous lady.
Irene was born in New Bedford on May 21, 1913 and came to live in Edgartown with her family in 1918. She remained on the Island with the exception of a brief off-Island stint until January 2001 when she moved to be closer to family.
Although Irene left Edgartown High School before completing her schooling to join the work force to assist in support of her family, she later returned. A friend convinced her of the value of the diploma and Irene, while also working, returned to school. She gained distinction in her class and was graduated in 1945 with her much younger fellow classmates.
Irene continued with New England Telephone after graduation and rose to the position of chief operator in Edgartown. Her retirement came after 29 years, when advancement in telecommunications in 1966 brought dial telephones to Edgartown and the closing of one of the last local offices in New England.
A woman of many hobbies and talents, Irene quickly settled into her retirement. She now was able to pursue two of her passions, bird watching and surfcasting. Her commitment to these outdoor activities, lasting well into her 80s as it turned out, was, as she said, "beneficial to my health, nothing better than the salt air." Many Island fishermen remember Irene down at Wasque bringing in the bass and blues. Her many related tales of fishing are cherished remembrances for her family and friends.
Irene was the last surviving member of a large family. She remained close to her nieces and nephew through the years. She was predeceased by her parents, Elezear and Marie Henley of Edgartown, and by eight sisters and brothers, including Evangeline Lane Wright, Theodore P. Henley, Orin T. Henley and Leda Comeau Savaria. Her survivors include her nieces, Kathleen Lane Jackson of Cedar Knolls, N.J.; Nancy Lane Long of Chelmsford; Anne Evangeline Henley Salisbury of Mt. Dora, Fla., and a nephew, Paul T. Comeau of Las Cruces, N.Mex. Several additional nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews also survive.
The family has planned a memorial mass for Irene at St. Elizabeth's Church in Edgartown on Thursday, June 28, at 11 a.m. with interment following at the family lot in the Old Westside cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Felix Neck Wildlife Center in her memory.
J. Sinclair Armstrong, 85
Was Avid Preservationist
James Sinclair Armstrong, lawyer, government official, banker and foundation executive, died in New York city on Nov. 5, 2000, after suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 85. He spent more than 70 summers as an Island resident, most of them at Topmast Head, the family home on Chappaquiddick. Here began his life-long love of the Vineyard and passion for sailing.
Sinc, as he was known to family and friends, was born in New York city, the son of S. Howard Armstrong and Katharine LeBoutillier Armstrong. He attended the Allen-Stevenson School there and was graduated from Milton Academy. He also was graduated from Harvard College, where he was editorial chairman of The Harvard Crimson, and from Harvard Law School. With interruption for service in the Navy during World War II, he joined the Chicago law firm of Isham, Lincoln & Beale, becoming a partner in 1950, specializing in securities and corporate laws.
In 1953, Sinc moved to Washington when President Eisenhower tapped him to become a commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was promoted to chairman of the commission in 1955 and served in that role for two years. Leaving the SEC in 1957, he then served until 1959 as Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Comptroller of the Navy Department, with responsibility for budget and accounting for both the Navy and Marine Corps. During this period, the Navy engaged in active operations in the context of the Cold War and in the massive conversion of aircraft to rockets and missiles, all within the balanced federal budgets of the Eisenhower presidency.
Returning to New York in 1959, Sinc became Executive Vice President of the United States Trust Company of New York. In this position, he established a highly successful corporate trust and agency department and handled banking relationships with securities and law firms. He also served as an independent director of several companies, both public and private. During these years, at considerable detriment to his career, he took a public position in opposition to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, speaking at public rallies and joining protest marches on Wall Street and in Washington.
Retiring from banking in 1980, Sinc went back to the practice of law as a partner in the New York firm of Whitman & Ransom (which became Whitman, Breed, Abbott & Morgan and is now Winston and Strawn). His return to the law coincided with the beginning of a major landmark preservation battle to save St. Bartholomew's Church, at Park avenue and 50th street in New York city, the only open space for blocks around, from the efforts of the rector, wardens and vestry to erect an office tower in its stead. As a longtime parishioner, following in the steps of parents and grandparents, Sinc led the preservation charge, mobilizing a loyal band of dissident parishioners and rallying a broad range of citizen support.
The actual legal battle, administrative proceedings and litigation lasted until March 1991 and required three trips to the City's Landmarks Preservation Commission and a trek through the federal courts, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, after the church sued the city to set aside the landmarks law as it applied to religious properties. When the battle was over and the church had been saved, Sinc remarked that he wouldn't need a tombstone: "St. Bartholomew's is my headstone."
During the 1980s and 1990s, Sinc was active in many other endeavors, serving as president and then chairman of the English-Speaking Union of the United States and in the latter capacity as chairman of the ESU's international council, with representatives from over 40 countries. For this service, Queen Elizabeth honored him by naming him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Also, for his service in aiding the restoration of historic St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery following a devastating fire, he was named an Officer of the Order of Orange and Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, since the church was built on land that had been owned by Peter Stuyvesant, where also he is interred.
Retiring from law practice in 1995, Sinc repaired to The Reed Foundation, of which he had long been a director, and worked there for the rest of his life as executive secretary and treasurer. The Foundation supports domestic and international programs in the arts, humanities, education and human rights. At his death, he was also a trustee of the American Trust for the British Library.
Many of the traits that were the hallmarks of Sinc's public and private life - teamwork, fair play, preparedness, caution, competitiveness in a spirit of friendship and flexibility (like knowing when to tack to fetch an objective)-were learned in his early days on the water in Edgartown. As a boy he raced the Cape Cod dory, Tiger, and then a Vineyard Sound Interclub double-planked mahogany sloop, Redskin, also cruising on her with his father and brother, Howie (Sinclair Howard Armstrong Jr.), to Nantucket, Newport and Long Island.
His father's fleet later included Blue Heron, of the Beach Boat class, Swiftsure (named for a British warship that fought under Nelson in the Battle of the Nile) of the Javelin class, and Debonair, a 30-foot Alden yawl, built near Bath, Me., and sailed in Maine as well as Vineyard waters. Then in 1946 there was Ariel, an 18-foot Cape Cod cat, Marconi rig, the last boat built by Manuel Swartz Roberts in his shop, now the Old Sculpin Gallery. In 1960 his father added As You Like It of the Rhodes 19 class and in 1978, at age 96, Gloriana of the Herreshoff 12 class, which remains in the family fleet today.
Over the years, Sinc added four boats of his own, three of them built in Southwest Harbor, Me., which became fixtures in Edgartown harbor. From 1972 through 1991 there was Heather, a Hinckley pilot rigged as a yawl, and there still is her beautiful fiberglass lapstrake tender, Heather Too, a double-thwarted rowboat. Since 1977 there has been l'Allegro, a 20-foot fiberglass launch, of classic lobster boat design with an inboard diesel engine. To accommodate younger members of the family (alas, not inclined to row), he added a Boston Whaler, Tam O'Shanter.
If being on it was one aspect of water as a metaphor for Sinc's life, so also was the family home, Topmast Head, atop the highest point of land on Chappaquiddick, known as "the Hills," commanding a panoramic view of Edgartown harbor, the town and the waters beyond, all the way to the distant shore of Falmouth. When his father bought the place in 1927, the simple shingle cabin, which is now the main part of the house was the only building on that hillside. The prior owner, the Edgartown Yacht Club, had used it to store boats, hauling them up the cliff on rails now well buried beneath the overgrowth of many years. Legend has it that the cabin was also used as a "drop" for bootleg liquor during prohibition.
To live there as a boy, at a "camp" and in isolation from the summer buzz, was necessarily to be self-reliant, resourceful and independent. Water was the medium of transport, and that meant rowing a boat! In later years, with the influx of neighbors and the advent of engines as an aid to water transport, isolation was no longer a reality, but a calming sense of removal and detachment persists to this day. One can and does view the world from afar, with the moderating effect that even a small pocket of water provides. It helps to keep human concerns in perspective.
On the Vineyard Sinc belonged to the Edgartown Yacht Club, where he was also an enthusiastic tennis player, the Edgartown Reading Room and the Scottish Society, and on Chappaquiddick he was a member of the Island Ball Watchers Society. Everyone has his or her own Vineyard. For Sinc it was the family enclave high atop Chappaquiddick with its near view of the sheltering harbor and the inviting town, embracing all the delights that were the markings of his life in Edgartown, and its far view of waters extending beyond the horizon and promising untold adventure.
Sinc is survived by his wife, Charlotte, and his five children, Katherine Young of Boston, James of Denver, Stephen of Hadley, Robert of Vienna, Va., and Elisabeth Armstrong-Bushey of Deerfield; also his niece, Leslie Armstrong of New York city, eight grandchildren, two great-nieces and a great-nephew.
Jeanne Seymour Donner
Was Active As Volunteer
Jeanne Seymour Donner of Naples, Fla., died peacefully at home surrounded by her family on Wednesday, June 6.
Jeanne was born to her parents, Stanley and Adeline Romeril, on June 17, 1919 in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. She was graduated from The Saint Mary's School in Garden City, Long Island, and later worked for Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. She married
Philip T. Seymour, an attorney in Manhattan, in 1941 and later raised their family together in Merrick and Syracuse, N.Y.
While living in Syracuse, Jeanne was a member of The DeWitt Community Church as well as many other committees within the church and the community. She was a volunteer for Crouse-Irving Memorial Hospital, Meals on Wheels and the Literacy Volunteers of America. She was the longtime president of the Parent Teacher's Association for the Moses-DeWitt School and also served as the Director of The Camp Fire Girls. She was a member of the Suburban Garden Club and The Cavalry Club where she served as President of the Golf Association.
Her husband, Philip T. Seymour, a partner in the law firm of Hancock, Estabrook, Ryan, Shove & Hust in Syracuse, died in January 1974. Jeanne later traveled extensively and, in June 1975, married
Matthew A. Donner in San Francisco, California. Jeanne and Matthew eventually moved to Naples, Florida in 1981, where they have been residents ever since. While living in Naples, she was a volunteer for the Naples Community Hospital, Meals on Wheels and the Literacy Volunteers of America. She was also the president of The Colony Garden Condominium Association, and a member of Saint John's Episcopal Church and The Moorings Country Club where she served as president of the 18 Hole Group.
Jeanne was an indomitable spirit with a sharp wit and unique vision. Her passion for life was inspirational. She will be forever loved and missed by her four children, Philip T. Seymour Jr. of Asheville, N.C., Stanley M. Seymour and Anne Seymour Donahue of DeWitt, N.Y. and Cynthia R. Seymour of Martha's Vineyard. Jeanne is also survived by her eight grandchildren and seven great grandchildren as well as her husband, Matthew A. Donner of Naples, Fla. Jeanne's only sibling, sister Ruth Wingardner, predeceased her in 1981 in Naples, Fla. Jeanne is survived by her nephews, Thomas, William and James Wingardner and their families. The family would also like to extend its deepest appreciation and gratitude to Jeanne's caregiver, Tory Merritt, who brought tremendous love, comfort and support to Jeanne and her family.
A memorial service for Jeanne is planned for later this month in Syracuse, New York followed by a Naples memorial service in November. Donations may be made to Hospice of Naples, 1095 Whippoorwill Lane, Naples, FL 34105.
John Lee
Was Champion Athlete, Business Leader
John J. Lee, retired chairman and CEO of Hexcel Corporation, died on May 5 due to kidney cancer. Mr. Lee was 64 years old. The one-time New York Knick, former All-American basketball player at Yale University, and Brooklyn schoolboy legend was, to all who knew him, the incarnation of the American dream.
Mr. Lee was a longtime seasonal resident of Chilmark. During his more than 20 years on the Island, he was regularly seen fishing off of Menemsha, body surfing off of Lucy Vincent Beach or Quansoo Beach, taking long walks on Squibnocket Beach, clamming or sailing in Quitsa Pond or trying his luck lobstering on Menemsha Pond.
Brought up by immigrant parents in Brooklyn, Mr. Lee first came to prominence in the early 1950s as a three-time All-City and All-American basketball player for Erasmus Hall High School. Elected captain of the team during both his junior and senior years, Johnny (Red) Lee led the Brooklyn Public School Athletic League in scoring and catapulted Erasmus to the Divisional Titles in 1953 and 1954.
After receiving scholarship offers from more than 65 universities, Mr. Lee matriculated to Yale University in the fall of 1954. As a sophomore, Mr. Lee went on to break all Ivy League scoring records; as a junior, he gained national attention when he was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the "next great Ivy League scholar-athlete." He went on to lead Yale to their first Ivy League basketball title in 10 years, was a member of the All-Ivy team for three straight years, and achieved All-American accolades during both his junior and senior seasons. In recognition of his remarkable career and symbolizing his position as one of the top collegiate players in 1958, the NCAA elected Mr. Lee to their All-American Silver Anniversary Basketball Team in 1983.
After graduating in the spring of 1958 with a degree in chemical engineering, Mr. Lee was drafted by the New York Knicks, and for a brief period of time, balanced an NBA career with his post-graduate studies at Yale. The rigors of both professions soon proved to be too much and, in late 1958, he retired from his glorious basketball career to begin an even more amazing ascent into the world of business.
After a five-year stint at W.R. Grace and co-founding a management consulting firm, Mr. Lee spent the next 25 years as a senior executive at four publicly traded companies. He began at Barber Oil Corporation and continued at Phibro Resource Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Salomon Inc., where he was the president and CEO and as such, was responsible for managing an international portfolio of companies in the industrial, energy, natural resource, metal, transportation and manufacturing industries.
In the late 1980s, Mr. Lee went on to become the president of Tosco Corp., a multi-billion-dollar refiner and marketer of petroleum products. In 1993, he was recruited to become the Chairman and CEO of Hexcel Corp., a billion-dollar manufacturer of advanced composite materials. Mr. Lee's tenure at Hexcel will be remembered as one of his crowning professional achievements, as he was responsible for resuscitating the company from bankruptcy in 1993 and ultimately growing it into the largest manufacturer of composite materials in the world, with more than 6,000 employees worldwide.
Mr. Lee also maintained a longstanding and deeply personal relationship with Yale University. Over the course of the past 40 years, he acted as a trustee of the Yale Corporation, national chairman of the Yale Capital Campaign, member of the Yale Investment Committee and, in 1989, was a recipient of Yale's highest alumni award, the Yale Medal. In 1997, Yale named the basketball gymnasium where he played his greatest games 40 years earlier in his honor -- the John J. Lee Amphitheater is now the home to Yale's men's and women's basketball and volleyball.
Mr. Lee was an active participant in many local and civic activities. He served on the New York City Boardof Education Bicentennial Commission; was a successful head coach of Larchmont Junior Soccer league, and was president of the Westchester and Fairfield County chapter of the Young President's Organization.
John leaves behind a loving wife, Gayle; a brother, Robert; four children, Jocelyn, Lauren, John and Roger, and five grandchildren, Aidan, Jack, Austin, Simon and Isabelle.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to either of the following: Cancer Research Foundation c/o Dr. Janice Dutcher, 640 West 239th street, Riverdale, NY 10463, or to Cancer Support Team, 933 Mamaroneck avenue, Suite 102, Mamaroneck, NY 10543.
Kathryn Elizabeth Fagan
Loved Fishing and Sailing
Kate Fagan died suddenly on May 28 in Chilmark. She was 31 years old. Kate was an Edgartown resident for 10 years, and worked first at the Harborside Restaurant and then as banquet manager at the Harbor View Hotel, where she made a great many friends from across the Vineyard, the country and around the world. Most recently, she was employed by Inside-Out, a landscaping company, where she was adored and appreciated by her clients.
Kate was graduated from the Broadalbin-Perth High School in Broadlabin, N.Y., from Paul Smith's College with a degree in hotel management, and from Plattsburgh State College in Plattsburgh, N.Y. At Paul Smith's College, Kate made friends who introduced her to Martha's Vineyard, a place she happily called home.
Kate was a true friend to everyone she knew, and was the kind of person you always wanted to be with and were always glad to see. She had a great many friends on the Vineyard with whom she shared her many interests -- fishing, sailing, poetry writing, reading and a good plate of nachos. She enjoyed Vineyard life as we all know it to be. Kate was a charter member of the Pink Squid Yacht Club, a nonprofit company that primarily donates money to high school scholarships. She was also a co-founder of Sea*Saw Enterprises, a charter fishing business and construction company. The business was developed with the idea of sharing the benefits with the Island community, which she loved.
To Kate's friends and many people she knew from around the world she will always be remembered as our Lady Liberty because of her free spirit and great sense of humor.
Kathryn Elizabeth Fagan was the beloved daughter of Fred and Margaret Michaelson Fagan of Perth, N.Y. She was the much-loved life companion of Sam Kistler of Chilmark. She is survived by her brother, Greg, brother, Andy of Waverly, N.Y., and sister in law, Kelly Fagan; her brother, Michael; her sister, Anne, and brother in law, Jim Hogan; her sister, Tricia, and brother in law, Edward Tauss; her sister, Andrea Fagan Boles; and her sister, Maureen, and brother in law, Michael Davio.
Kate was the devoted aunt of 15 nieces and nephews: Matthew, Bryan, Jason, Jamie, Jared, David, Ryan, Michael, Sarah, Kelsey, Rachael, Dawn, Erin, Emily and Kyley. She is also survived by her aunts and uncles: Sister Ann Michaelson, RSM; Hank and Joan Michaelson; James and Sephanie Michaelson; and John and Donna Fagan. She is also survived by her grandparents, Arthur and Marion Fagan; a great uncle, Charles Drouse, and great aunts, Ruth Cerrone and Roberta Michaelson. A sister, Mary Fagan Poleto, died in 1991.
A Roman Catholic Mass was held on Monday at St. Patrick's Church in Johnstown, N.Y. In celebration of her life, there will be a memorial service, held for her Island friends and family, at a date to be announced.
In memory of Kate, contributions may be made to the Kathryn E. Fagan Scholarship Fund of the Pink Squid Yacht Club, Box 2979, Edgartown, MA 02539.
Kate Fagan
A memorial service for Kate Fagan, who died May 28, will be held on Saturday, June 23, at 2 p.m. at the agricultural hall in West Tisbury. A reception will follow.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Kathryn E. Fagan Scholarship Fund of the Pink Squid Yacht Club, Box 279, Edgartown, MA 02539.
John Jay Angevin
Was Man of Warmth and Wit
John Jay Angevin, 77, died Oct. 30 at the Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, after a brief illness. An Island summer resident since childhood, he had retired to Edgartown where he built a house overlooking Ox Pond Meadow and Nantucket Sound — a view which delighted him every day.
A former ad man turned minister, he will be remembered for his quick wit, warmth and his concern for others. In his later years, he was a familiar sight navigating Edgartown's streets with hiking sticks to steady his 6'7" frame.
He was born in Boston, the son of summer residents, Ferris and Marion Angevin, and spent his childhood in Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from Asheville School in North Carolina and from Williams College. During World War II, he was an ambulance driver in Burma with the American Field Service. After Williams, Mr. Angevin attended Union Theological Seminary in New York city but left before receiving his master's of divinity to teach English and History at Mt. Herman School in Northfield.
In 1951, he married
Stella Brown (now Kenly), another lifelong summer resident and his sister Sylvia's best friend. They moved to Buffalo, N. Y. where he worked briefly as a reporter for the Buffalo Evening News before embarking on a 20-year career in advertising and marketing. He started at BBDO and Rumrill-Hoyt in Buffalo and continued at Tatham-Laird and Kudner, among others, in Chicago, where he and his family settled in Lake Forest. Despite the move, every summer they continued to bring their four children to the Vineyard. In 1972, he was divorced and returned to Union Seminary to complete his studies. His career as a Presbyterian minister touched many communities, ranging from a halfway house in the Bronx and the Christian Century magazine to Camp Jabberwocky and 10 churches in Vermont, Ohio, New York and Massachusetts where he served as interim minister. His broad social ministry included a deep commitment to world peace that led to his arrest at CIA headquarters and his participation in the Vineyard Peace Council.
An accomplished photographer, he delivered slide presentations to various groups to help people cope with the stresses caused by advertising and other societal forces. He will also be remembered for his love of children; his favorite part of every sermon was his "words to the children."
In spite of his multiple careers, his family was what really mattered. As he wrote for his 50th college reunion: "What might interest my classmates? Maybe that I took the roads less traveled and none of them has made any difference. My four children have. I learned this true and sure when one child died."
John is survived by his sister, Sylvia Angevin Thompson of Geneva, Ill. and Edgartown; his former wife, Stella Brown Kenly, of Lake Forest, Ill.; his daughters, Jody Angevin of Dedham and Susan Angevin of Cambridge; his son, Robert Angevin of Chicago; his grandson, Garrett Harper of Dedham; his nephew and nieces, Peter Rentschler, Sarah Rentschler, Mary Rentschler Alley, Phoebe R. Cole, and Alexandra Thompson, and his six grandnieces and grandnephews. He was predeceased by his sister, Andrea L. Angevin, and his son, John J. Angevin Jr.
A funeral service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. in St. Andrew's Church, Edgartown. Private burial will be at Abel's Hill cemetery in Chilmark. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that contributions be made to the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, of which Mr. Angevin's parents were founding members (P.O. Box 319X, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568); or the Heifer Project, an international anti-hunger organization, at 1015 Louisiana street, Little Rock, AR 72202.
Alberta Costa, 87
Loved Her Garden and Family
Alberta E. (Allard) Costa, 87, of Oak Bluffs died peacefully at her Winthrop avenue home on Sunday morning, August 26.
She was the widow of Eugene A. Costa, on whose birthday she died. She was born on Dec. 1, 1913, to the late George Francis and Flora (Francis) Allard in Oak Bluffs.
She was educated in the Fall River school system and was a former employee of the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital housekeeping department. For a number of years she cared for the Sacred Heart rectory where she was seen walking to work with her beloved cocker spaniel, Heide.
Alberta was a gentle lady who found joy tending to her garden, coupled with her love of family and animals.
She is survived by two daughters, Jean Elizabeth Gomes of New Bedford and Elaine Costa Carroll of Tisbury on the Chop; eight grandchildren, Michael T. Carroll of Edgartown, Elizabeth J. Carroll of Charleston, S.C., Timothy J. Gomes of Oak Bluffs, Robin A. Voisine, Pamela A. Martin, Shawn J. Gomes, Tammy A. Gomes and Rebecca A. Gomes, all of New Bedford; a great-granddaughter, Monica Ann Carroll of Edgartown, and four great-grandsons, Jason J. Martin, Wayne B. Martin, Harry K. Parson Jr. and Sterling J. Gomes, all of New Bedford.
She was the sister of the late Lillian Lopes, Wilfred and George Allard.
Her funeral mass will be celebrated at Our Lady, Star of the Sea Church in Oak Bluffs at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, August 29. Interment will be in Sacred Heart cemetery. Visiting hours will be held on Tuesday, August 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Chapman, Cole and Gleason Funeral Home, Oak Bluffs.
Donations in her memory may be made to Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557 or to the Visiting Nurse Association, P.O. Box 2568, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.
Laura Gilbert, 71
Was Lively, Creative Person
Laura R. Gilbert, 71, of Mount Vernon street, West Newton, died on Friday, August 24, at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton following a brief illness. She was the wife of the late John Parker Gilbert, who died in 1980.
Born in Milwaukee, Wis., on Oct. 29, 1929, she was a daughter of the late Avery Groat and Margaret (Laidlaw) Richardson. She attended schools in New Jersey, where she was graduated from Boonton (N.J.) High School in 1947. She received her bachelor’s degree in history from Skidmore College in 1951 and earned her master’s degree in arts and history from the University of Chicago in 1953.
Mrs. Gilbert resided in West Newton for the past 40 years and previously lived in North Carolina and California. For many years she summered in Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard.
She was known as the “Jelly Lady,” who made over 80 varieties of jellies, jams and chutney and sold them at the Farmers’ Market in Newton for more than 15 years prior to retiring a few years ago. She also baked and frequently donated items to the Women’s Lunch Place, a shelter and food pantry for homeless and poor women on Newbury street in Boston, where she was a devoted supporter of the organization.
As a hobby, Mrs. Gilbert made historical dolls that she gladly gave away and donated to charities. Believing in supporting her local farmers, she was an outspoken advocate for people purchasing food from local farmers. She lived a very creative life in both overcoming personal difficulties and through her cooking and artistic abilities.
She leaves two daughters, Elisabeth (Lissa) Gilbert, with whom she lived in West Newton, and Rebecca Gilbert of Chilmark; a brother, Alexander Richardson of Montclair, N.J., and two people whom she loved as her grandchildren, Sarah Winship of Temple, N.H., and Susan Zalkind of West Newton. She was the sister of the late Stephen Richardson.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 1, at 3 p.m. in the First Congregational Church, State Road, West Tisbury. A memorial service will also be held in Newton at a time and place to be announced. Interment will be private.
Memorial donations may be made to the Women’s Lunch Place, 67 Newbury street, Boston, MA 02116.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth avenue, North Attleboro.
