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Obituaries
Posted: September 1, 2005
Lorraine M. Johnson
Lorraine Marie “Tootie” Johnson of Mt. Aldworth Road in Vineyard Haven, a lifelong Island resident, died August 22 at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after a two-year illness.
Tootie was born on December 21, 1925, in the house where she lived for her entire life, the daughter of John S. M. Johnson, an Island native, and Olive Ellis from Dennisport.
She studied nursing at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro and worked for many years at the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. She also worked for Dr. Friech for a time.
She was a great gardener and loved to go to the beach. She was an expert fisherwoman and won many Island fishing derbies. She would cast fear into the other fisherman around her when she arrived. Tootie enjoyed needlework, doing embroidery and lace work.
She is survived by her sister, Paula MacRae of Plymouth; and her beloved dog, Maggie, who was always by her side. She also leaves a niece, Paula Oehmy of St. Petersburg, Fla.; a nephew, Craig MacRae of Plymouth; three great nieces, four great nephews and four great-great nephews.
Her graveside service was held in Oak Grove Cemetery, State Road, Vineyard Haven, on August 26. Donations may be made in her memory to the MSPCA, P.O. Box 2097, Edgartown, MA 02539 or to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, P.O. Box 1477, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557. 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.
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Clark Demyen
Andrew Clark Demyen, of Coles Point, Va., died peacefully at home among family and friends on August 23, as the result of pancreatic cancer.
Many people knew him only as Clark. Years ago, a friend saw him sign his name as A. Clark Demyen and asked what the A stood for. Before receiving an answer, she said, “Oh, don’t bother to tell me. I know — it stands for amazing.” And he was. He touched many with his gentle demeanor, easy-going nature, quiet wit, and gift of relating to people from all walks of life.
Clark was born in Takoma Park, Md., May 12, 1947, to Ruby Clark Demyen and Andrew Demyen. He graduated from Takoma Academy and attended Columbia Union College for 18 months. But his heart was in boating, and he obtained his United Stated Coast Guard Captain’s license in 1982.
Clark lived aboard and cruised his own 33-foot sloop, the Windy Ark, before working at Annapolis Harbor Boat Yard. He went on to captain, manage, and deliver 40- to 50-foot sailing vessels up and down the East Coast. He shared his love of boating and of life while running charters out of Annapolis, Md., Martha’s Vineyard, and Florida. He ran the sailing school at the Vineyard Haven Yacht Club. He traversed the Intracoastal Waterway many times, and his travels took him also to Bermuda and the Bahamas.
Clark and his wife, Jan, moved to Coles Point in 1995 to help operate Coles Point Plantation Marina. He became its general manager in 1998. He was an active member of the community, attending Coles Point United Methodist Church and participating on the Coles Point Fire Substation Committee and in the Tidewater Marine Trades Association.
He was preceded in death by his father and is survived by his mother, Ruby Demyen, of Coles Point; his wife, Jan Ohrmundt; his sister and brother-in-law, Barbara and Bob Mullen of Bisbee, Ariz.; and many, many friends. He is sorely missed, and will remain forever in our hearts.
A memorial service was held on August 27 at Coles Point United Methodist Church. Memorial gifts may be made to the Coles Point United Methodist Church Community Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 114, Hague, Va. 22469, or the Coles Point Fire Substation, c/o Cople Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 51, Kinsale, Va. 22488.
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Edmund B. Sylvia
Edmund Berube Sylvia, 56, of Topsham, Maine, died August 24 at Mid-Coast Medical Center in Brunswick, Maine, following a three-year year battle with renal cell carcinoma.
He was born in Oak Bluffs, son of Albert K. Sylvia Jr. and Yvonne Berube Sylvia. He was graduated from the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School in 1967 and from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in 1972. He received his master’s of business administration from New Hampshire College in 2000.
Mr. Sylvia taught a course, Pharmacy in the Health Occupations, at Kennebec Valley Vocational Technical Institute for many years in Waterville, Maine, and then in Fairfield.
He was employed at Colonial Drug Store in Edgartown throughout high school and college and worked at Children’s Hospital for two years following college graduation. He moved to Maine where he worked for 13 years at Redington Fairview as staff pharmacist and as director. In 1988 he moved to Mid- Coast Hospital, Brunswick, where he served as staff pharmacist and director until failing health forced his retirement.
He was active in the Topsham recreational soccer league, coaching for 11 years and serving on the board of directors. He was co-founder and coach for three years of Topsham Travel Soccer, which was initially named the MidCoast Strikers, presently named Merrymeeting Soccer.
He took vacations to volunteer at the Boy Scout Camp at Eaton Farm in Wiscasset for several summers and volunteered at Camp Sunshine, a camp for families with chronically or terminally ill children. He was active in diabetes education. He enjoyed riding his bike, and Lance Armstrong became his inspiration over the last three years as he struggled with cancer.
He was a member of the Oakland Lions Club and a charter member of Bath Lions Club. He had a passion for the Civil War and was a member of the Third Maine Civil War Re-enactors.
He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Ellen Wheeler Sylvia of Topsham; his mother of Edgartown; two sons, Andrew and Garrett Sylvia, both of Topsham; two sisters, Hanola Burnham and her husband, Marvin, of Wilton, Maine, and Elizabeth Mello and her husband, Tom, of Vineyard Haven; two brothers, Kevin Sylvia of Falmouth and Brian Sylvia and his partner, Joanne Coventry, of Edgartown; a sister-in-law, Cindy Sylvia of Oak Bluffs, and several nieces and nephews.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on August 27 at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Brunswick.
Memorial contributions may be made to Camp Sunshine, 35 Acadia Road, Casco, ME 04015.
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Giles C. Kelliher
On August 26, 2005, Giles Clement Kelliher died peacefully on Martha’s Vineyard at the home of his son, David, with his wife, Justine, by his side. He was 91 years old. Giles and Justine were married for 57 years and lived all of that time in Newton Center. He was born in Malden.
A clerk for the Boston and Maine Railroad from 1936 to 1977, Mr. Kelliher was a member of the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks and worked with the union to gain protection and justice for the common laborer. His work life was interrupted between 1943 and 1945, when he served in the Army Medical Corp during World War II. He was promoted to Master Sergeant in the One Hundred General Hospital stationed in France, Scotland, Wales, England, Luxemburg, and Belgium.
Throughout his life, even in the last few years, Giles remained physically active and involved in his family and community. He enjoyed tennis, folk dancing, table tennis, camping and walking. He was also interested in environmental groups and belonged to The Ethical Society.
Giles was a loyal and loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be missed by all.
He is survived by his loving wife; six children, Giles Jr., Ralph, Margaret Anne, Justina, Julia, and David; as well as 14 grandchildren: Kimberly, Ralph Jr., Merridith, Melissa, Alanna, Willow, Jeffrey, Shawna, Matthew, Suzanne, James, Renee, Ronald, and Niambi.
A graveside service for the burial of his cremated remains will be held in Newton Cemetery on October 8 at 1pm, with a reception to follow at the family home in Newton Center.
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.
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Mary S. Knight
Mary Steele Knight died at her home in West Tisbury on August 3, after an illness of several months. She was 76 years old.
Mary and her family came to the Vineyard in June 1976, renting a cottage on Old House Pond, behind Nip ’n Tuck Farm. Mary was enthralled by the Vineyard and returned every summer thereafter. In 1980 she bought a plot of land from her dear friend, the late Fred Fisher of Nip ’n Tuck Farm. She built a house several years later. After her husband retired, he and she eventually became year-round Island residents.
Mary Carter Steele was born August 2, 1929, in Hartford, Conn. Her father, Maurice Gaylord Steele, also born in Hartford, was a descendant of John Steele, a principal founder of Hartford, and could trace his ancestry back to that first band of colonists who landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620. Her mother, Minor Gibson Porter, was from the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
Mary spent several years of her childhood in Baltimore and the Eastern Shore, but lived most of her early life in Rome, N.Y. She graduated in 1947 from Rome Free Academy and then attended Washington College for two years and graduated from Cornell University in 1951. She enrolled in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, where she met her husband, Robert E. L. Knight. They were married September 2, 1954. In 1956 she was awarded the degree of Master of Arts in English Literature.
Mary had a home for more than 40 years in College Park, Md., where her husband was on the faculty of the University of Maryland. She taught briefly there in the University’s English Department, but did not pursue an academic career.
Literature remained a central and abiding interest throughout her life. Mary was an impassioned book collector. She was an habitué of Book Den East. On car trips she delighted in seeking out second-hand bookstores on or near the route, which she could explore for discoveries to add to her collection. Her house in College Park overflowed with books, and these books now overflow her house on the Vineyard.
Mary was a dedicated supporter of conservation efforts to preserve the Vineyard as the place which so enchanted her when she first came to it. She had great concern for animals and was a contributor to the MSPCA, the Cleveland Amory Fund, and other animal protection organizations. Over the years she gave a home to a number of the cats that appeared at Nip n’ Tuck Farm.
Mary campaigned ardently for Adlai Stevenson in 1952 and from then on followed the political scene. She participated in protest marches against the Vietnam War and campaigned for Eugene McCarthy in 1968. Despite discouraging developments in recent years, she continued to hope that our nation would evolve into a more just and humane society.
She is survived by her husband; her daughter, Minor, and her husband, Salvatore Della Torre, also of West Tisbury; and by her son, Robert, and his wife, Lori, of Claremont, N.H. She leaves four grandchildren: Zachary, Breanna, and Robert Knight, and Robert Della Torre. She is also survived by a sister, Minor Steele Kelley, of Fort Collins, Colo.; by a brother, Colonel Maurice G. Steele Jr. of Albuquerque, N.M.; and by several nieces and nephews.
Mary was buried on August 9 in the Steele family plot at Rome Cemetery, next to the graves of her mother and father.
Her family wish to express their deep gratitude to those who cared for Mary conscientiously during her illness: Dr. Ellen McMahon, her home health care aides, members of the Visiting Nurses Service, and especially to Juleann VanBelle, of Hospice of Martha’s Vineyard, whose service was invaluable.
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Fern G. Butterweck
Fern Gloria 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 and then moved to Merck, working 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 the 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, 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 with a pencil.
But her true love was fishing. She chased bass along the shores of Chappaquiddick and is best remembered for an area referred to as “Fern’s Crossing” near Cape Pogue, that was so completely hers.
Both in Scotch Plans and on the Vineyard, Fern made and kept many lifelong 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, by her grandchildren Kimberly of Edgartown and Greg of Burlington, Vt., by her sister Audrey Dow of Scotch Plans and by her aunt Esther Lewis, of Honesdale, Penn.
Her funeral service was held in the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, 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.
Barbara D. Reed
On August 27 Barbara D. Reed died at Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Oak Bluffs.
Barbara Dunton Fernald was born on August 13, 1910 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She first attended a one-room schoolhouse on Middle Road (which is still standing) and graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1928, having been active in the Campfire Girls and in cheerleading. As a young woman, she saved some money and moved, alone, to Boston to attend the Vesper George School of Art, an unusual and brave decision for her time. She never pursued art as a vocation, but that training and her talent influenced her thereafter in her hooked rug and quilt designs and in her gardening.
She eventually met and married Wendell J. Reed from Auburndale; they settled in Newtonville, and had their first son. Wendell enlisted when World War II began, and the family moved to Warrenton, Va., for the duration of the War. Not long afterwards, they bought a house in West Medway and had their second son.
While primarily a housewife, Barbara took on a variety of jobs, eventually becoming a librarian in the Medway and West Medway libraries. She continued to be a voracious reader, as always.
After their sons were out of the house, Barbara was very active in quilting and rug-making groups in Medway, helping to raise funds for the Historical Society. The Reeds eventually moved to Whitinsville, near their older son. Barbara became active in the Congregational church there, volunteering at the Thrift Shop. She obtained a driver’s license in her seventies and enjoyed her newfound mobility, maintaining contact with her Medway friends and continuing to participate in quilting and rug-making activities there. In 1990, after Wendell died, Barbara moved to Martha’s Vineyard where her second son had settled. She lived at Havenside in Vineyard Haven until advancing Alzheimer’s Disease made it necessary for her to move into the newly finished Windemere Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in May, 1994. She has lived there ever since.
She leaves behind two sons: Christopher of East Douglas, and Brian of Oak Bluffs; a brother, James Fernald of Lancaster, Calif.; and two grown grandchildren, Nathan and Sarah. She also leaves many friends and caregivers who will remember her kindness, wit, and spirit.
She will be interred beside Wendell at Evergreen Cemetery in West Medway. Arrangements are not yet complete and are under the care of the Ginley-Crowley Funeral Home in Medway. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Disease Unit at Windemere, P.O. Box 1747, Oak Bluffs, MA 02557.
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