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Obituaries
Posted: September 15, 2005
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Jean W. Fischer
Jean Wallace Fischer died at home in her Mouse House on Sept. 10 after a courageous 10-year battle with cancer. Her spirit was remarkable, and she gave strength and comfort to all who loved her and cared for her.
Jeannie left the following information among her papers:
Jean Wallace Fischer was born on Sept. 26, 1951 in Springfield, the youngest daughter of John E. and Lucy Ann (Balch) Wallace. Soon after, the family moved to Wellesley. The family always spent summers on the Vineyard, which felt like their real home. They moved here full time in the early 1970s.
Jeannie taught school for many years, mainly at the West Tisbury School, but also at the Tisbury School, Chilmark Cooperative Preschool, and the Martha's Vineyard Public Charter School. In 1973 she received her bachelor's degree in education from Wheelock College and in 1991 her master's in education from Lesley College. She loved teaching, taught all ages, and always remarked on how much she learned from her students. She also loved the arts, and brought that love into the classroom. She was a watercolorist and had several shows of her paintings over the years. She was an avid reader, loved humor, knitting, gardening, and walking.Å]
Jeannie had an extended family with her former husband, Albert Fischer, his wife Linda, and their two girls, Lydia and Molly, whom she adored. Her greatest love and pride were in her two sons, Andrew and Christopher, who were the world to her. Andrew is a carpenter/ photographer/artist on the Vineyard, and Chris is a chef in New York City. She also leaves a sister, Ann Wallace, of Chilmark and a brother, Bill Wallace, of Nova Scotia.
Her gratitude was immense for each new day, for her friends, and her family.
Jeannie also left this poem, along with others, for all of us:
...Grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears,
But laugh and talk of me
As if I were beside youÅc
I loved you so Å|
ÅeTwas heaven here with you.
Å| Isla Paschal Richardson
Jeannie's memorial gathering will take place at the Ag Hall, Panhandle Road, West Tisbury, on Sunday, September 18, at 1 pm.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Jeannie's name to Hospice of Martha's Vineyard (P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557) would be greatly appreciated by her family.
Lillian G. Harris
Lillian G. Harris, 95 of West Tisbury died peacefully at home on Sept. 9 with her daughter, Shirley VanDerSchueren, and her granddaughter Suzanne VanDerSchueren by her side. She was predeceased by her son Thomas Wilson. She is survived by sisters Ada Daly of Brockton, Elsie Sinclair of Florida; grandson Thomas S. Wilson of Florida; a great granddaughter and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.
A graveside service will be held on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 11 am at Glenwood Cemetery in Everett. Donations may be made in her memory to the Hospice of Martha's Vineyard, P.O. Box 2549, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. Arrangements are under the care of Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Oak Bluffs. Visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com for online guest book.
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Raymond Brown
Ray Brown, the man with the wry smile, riding the streets of Edgartown in his red scooter, died peacefully on Sept. 11, surrounded by friends and family and his devoted wife of 60 years, Amy, at Martha's Vineyard Hospital. He was 86 years old.
A resident of Edgartown for the past 30 years, he is survived by his wife Amy, his sons Robert of Edgartown, Scott, formerly of Edgartown, now residing in Temecula, Calif., his daughter-in-law, Lisa Brown of Temecula, Calif., and his four grandchildren, Reid, Noah, Todd, and Cody.
A World War II veteran, he entered the United States Army/Air Force in March of 1941. He served in Iceland from August of 1941 until August of 1943 as an armorer on a gunner crew on B17's. He then served in England from September of 1943 to September of 1944 before being shipped back home to New York City and then was discharged in September of 1945.
After the war, he started a career in the photographic industry in March of 1946 and ultimately became a partner in Superior Fototech in 1958 until his retirement in 1990. Raymond enjoyed boating, spending endless amounts of time and money on his succession of Boston Whalers, his O'Day 22 sailboat, and ultimately his pride and joy, his Hereshoff catboat, the "AMY E."
An avid golfer, he fought off the effects of two earlier strokes by playing golf every dayÅcsometimes well, sometimes not so well, but always with a smile as he looked forward to the "end-game" - his usual cup of coffee and a cookie at the end of the day.
The family would like to thank the staff at Brigham and Women's hospital who helped him fight his final battle, and, of course, the wonderful staff at Martha's Vineyard Hospital, who cared for him until the end and with whom he had become quite attached over the course of these many years.
Raymond was buried with family in attendance at the West Side Cemetery in Edgartown on the morning of Sept. 14, promptly at 9:30 am, a time his friends know was important to him. A public memorial service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 11 am, at the gravesite, where his life will be celebrated.
Ray now joins his dear friend John Rogers as they again share a tall tale or two, and, of course the usual cup of coffee.
Arrangements are under the care of the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, Oak Bluffs. Visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com for online guest book and information.
Marion J. Kinsella
Marion J. Kinsella (Mickey) 81, of Music Street, West Tisbury, died on August 31, at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, following a brief illness.
Mickey was born in Hartford, Conn., on May 16, 1924, the daughter of Dr. Michael A. Kinsella and Dr. Gertrude Johnson Kinsella. She graduated from New Britain High School and received her bachelor of fine arts degree in painting from Syracuse University in 1947. A sculptor, interior and lighting designer, Mickey worked on many Broadway shows with her partner Jean Rosenthal, including "West Side Story," "Cabaret," "Hello Dolly," and "Barefoot in the Park," and many more. Following Jean's death in 1968, Mickey's work took her to The Metropolitan Opera and American Ballet Theater with partner Nananne Porcher. Her art (driftwood assemblies and sculptures) has been shown at local galleries including the Old Sculpin, The Flea Market, and Red Barn Emporium, and off-Island at the Capricorn Gallery in New York, The New Britain Museum of American Art, Bushnell Museum, and a one-woman show at Bucknell University. In a Vineyard Gazette article in 1971 Mickey told reporter Phyllis Meras, "That pile of wood is my alphabet, and I have to string the pieces together to make my statement. They're something by themselves, of course, but making them work as language is a fascinating problem." Her bronzes are exquisite studies of the grace and power of the human form.
Mickey will be remembered for her sense of humor, intense loyalty to her New England Patriots, but mostly for her never-ending generosity to her family and friends.
She was predeceased by her parents, a sister, Dorothy K. Hubbard, brother Allen J. Kinsella, and partners Jean Rosenthal and Nananne Porcher. She is survived by her sister, Betsy K. Powers of Lewisburg, Pa.; nieces Dianne Powers of West Tisbury, Christina VanBuskirk of Millerstown, Pa., Elizabeth Hubbard of Old Saybrook, Conn., and Polly Bassett of Edgartown; and her nephews Marc Powers of Tampa, Fla., Michael Hubbard of Newington, Conn., Allen S. Kinsella of Goshen, Conn., Dexter Kinsella of Goshen, Conn., Christopher Kinsella of Falls Village, Conn., and their partners and families.
A memorial gathering will be held over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Fern D. Butterweck
Fern Dow Butterweck died peacefully on August 21 at her home in Edgartown after a long illness. She was 84. Born in Elizabeth, N.J., she worked at Prudential Insurance until the outbreak of World War II when she moved to Merck, and also worked extra shifts in a steel stamping factory to support the war effort. At Merck she met and married Paul Butterweck and they lived in Scotch Plains, N.J. for 45 years. They traveled the world together, but nothing gave her as much joy as the coast of Spain, the islands off Italy, and the rough shore of Ireland that reminded her so much of Martha's Vineyard where she and Paul summered together from the early 1960s on. After Paul's death in 1992 she moved to Edgartown year-round.
Fern was an avid swimmer. Her father was a tugboat engineer who worked the piers around Manhattan. She had the happy experience of occasionally joining him at work which sometimes meant circling the entire island and at the end of the day's work swimming off the boat in the shadow of the Statute of Liberty. As a teenager her minister's wife persuaded her to take singing lessons. She studied voice for several years and participated in a number of local operetta productions. With her husband and her daughter Debbie, she was an enthusiastic figure skater at the Raritan Valley and Essex Skating clubs in New Jersey and became a figure skating judge for entry level competitions. She was a tough tennis player and a member of the Farm Neck Golf Club.
She traded stocks with good humor and a sense of adventure, and she did the New York Times crossword puzzle every day.
But her true love was fishing. She chased bass along the shores of Chappaquiddick, off the Vineyard, and is best remembered for an area referred to as "Fern's Crossing" near Cape Pogue, that was so completely hers.
Both in Scotch Plains and on the Vineyard, Fern made and kept many life-long friends who treasured her jokes, her wisdom and her generosity. And she kept taped to her refrigerator door a few lines from a magazine that gave her guidance during the last years of her life: "I always try to bring light and love to every experience. Through what I think and do, I make a positive difference in this world." She did. Fern was a woman of unfailing good cheer and a rare spirit who will be deeply missed by all who knew her.
She is survived by her daughter Deborah Butterweck Carter and her son-in-law Jim Carter of Edgartown; by her grandchildren Kimberly of Edgartown and Greg of Burlington, Vt.; by her sister Audrey Dow of Scotch Plains, N.J.; and by her aunt Esther Lewis, of Honesdale, Penn.
Her funeral service was held in the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Oak Bluffs, officiated by the Rev. Dr. Jerry Fritz on August 25 and burial was in the new Westside Cemetery, Edgartown.Å]
Donations may be made in her memory to the charity of one's choice.
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