Elizabeth Anne Hyde died peacefully at the Sippican Health Care Center in Marion on Sept. 5, 2015, surrounded by children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and her daughter-in-law Camille Hyde. In her last year Anne received care from Camille, along with granddaughter Emily and daughter Beth, who tended to Anne’s every need until she died.
Anne was 92 years old, and kept her sense of humor throughout her life, bestowing it at every opportunity on her family and friends until the end. On the last day of her life, when she no longer had the strength to speak, but with a twinkle in her eye, she winked to a visiting pastor from Camille’s church.
Anne, as she was called by almost everyone who knew her, was born in Wheat, Tenn., to Pearl and Claude Jerome Griffitts. She met her husband, Robert T. (Doc) Hyde in Knoxville, Tenn., where she attended the University of Tennessee and he worked for the U.S. Weather Bureau. They were married and then honeymooned on Nantucket in 1944, where for a period of months Bob also served as a weather observer during the war. Anne received a degree in home economics at the University of Tennessee.
In 1946 they moved to Washington, D.C., with their daughter Elizabeth Anne. For a period of time, Anne and Bob and Beth lived at Fort Detrick, Md., where Bob worked, and Anne continued honing her skills as a homemaker. In 1949 their second child came, Raymond G. Hyde, and soon after, in 1951, Robert W. Hyde (Robin) was born.
Bob’s studies and work took him to Cincinnati, Ohio, and while there, the Hydes moved to Owensville, Ohio, where he was elected mayor of the town. In 1955, Anne gave birth to Kenneth S. Hyde. During her time in Ohio, Anne led 4-H, was active in the PTA, worked endlessly to improve the town schools, and was very active in the election campaign of John F. Kennedy.
In 1962 Bob and Anne pulled up stakes and came to the Vineyard, where Anne and Bob lived in Vineyard Haven. In 1963, Anne gave birth to Paul J. Hyde, and the family lived on Main Street next to the stone bank. During her years on the Vineyard, Anne worked at the Sears store when it was on Main Street in downtown Tisbury. She also worked as a postal worker in Tisbury, Oak Bluffs, and Edgartown, while Bob was a teacher at the Vineyard’s high school.
In 1977, Anne and Bob returned to Tennessee near the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, not far from her childhood home. After Bob’s death in 1997, Anne traveled back to the Vineyard, where she lived with her son Robin, and also traveled to Virginia to stay with Raymond and Margaret, his wife, then to New Hampshire to spend time with Beth, and returned to Alexandria, Va., to live with Ken for a period of time. Prior to entering an assisted-living facility in Dartmouth, she spent time at Paul and Camille’s home in Marion. Anne was always involved with making sure the family tried to gather together as a family at important dates over the years. So as she taught her children, they all gathered as a family at the time of her death.
Anne is survived by five children: Beth Fox of Wakefield, N.H.; Raymond Hyde of Delaplane, Va.; Robin Hyde of West Tisbury; Ken Hyde of Centreville, Va.; Paul Hyde of Marion; and six grandchildren: Johanna Cage of Southboro, Miriam Keen of Marshfield, Whitney (Whit) Hyde of West Tisbury, Michael Dower of Boston, and Robert (Robbie) Hyde and Emily Hyde of Marion. She is survived by five great-grandchildren: Ian and Evelyn Cage, James and Sophie Keen, and Ren Aoki Dower.
A family gathering will be held at a later date to celebrate Anne’s life. Donations may be made to maintain the Gay Head Lighthouse, where Anne and Bob’s ashes are spread at sea, or another charity of your choosing.