This section includes obituaries received after June 2020, and is sorted by Graduation Year and the Alum's name while a student at Friends.
Maiden Names appear between [ ].
Click the Menu button (top left corner) to navigate between the different tabs.
Alum '38, Sibling of Alum ('41)
Died on June 27, 2020GLENS FALLS – Mary Callahan Sargent '38 of Glens Falls died peacefully on June 27, 2020, at the Pines Nursing Home in Glens Falls New York. Mary was born Mary Callahan on April 6, 1921 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Molly - as she was known to her friends and family - spent her early years in Delaware where she attended the Friends School in Wilmington. She went on to graduate in 1942 from Bryn Mawr with a degree in sociology. After graduation, she met the love of her life Donald Sargent. Donald was a young Phd chemist working for the DuPont Corporation, which also employed her father. Mary became Mary Sargent in June of 1942 when the two were married. Over the years the couple lived in many places; Delaware, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York as Don’s career took them across the country. They retired here in New York on a beautiful 16-acre farm in Greenfield Center known to her grandchildren as “The Farm.”
Molly was a talented artist. A few of her media were painting, gardening, and drawing. Watercolor was her specialty; family and friends treasure her paintings in their homes as some of their most prized possessions. Great art is never complete - it escapes, such was the case with Mary’s art. She strived for perfection in all her works. As a prolific gardener she was able to express her art in a different way, serving as a Master Gardener for Cornell Cooperative Extension.
She passionately gave back by volunteering her entire life. Molly always found time to help others. She spent long hours teaching English as a second language. At the age of eighty, she was awarded Senior Citizen of the Year by the Saratoga Springs Rotary Club. This award was a result of her work as a volunteer for Community Hospice of Saratoga and Meals on Wheels in Greenfield Center. Molly was a founding member of the Saratoga Springs Congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Church. Her past community involvement includes the Book Bag at the Saratoga Springs Public Library, Saratoga Literacy Volunteer, Bryn Mawr Book Store in Albany, ushering at SPAC, League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood, American Red Cross, and United Way.
When not volunteering or working on her art Molly was a voracious reader, a lover of music in all forms, a downhill and cross-country skier, and someone who enjoyed sailing and camping on the islands of Lake George.
Molly was predeceased by her parents Margaret and Michael Callahan, her husband Donald in 1995 after nearly 54 years of marriage, and her brother William Callahan. Molly is survived by her two sons, David Michael Sargent (Mandy) currently of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Thomas Edward Sargent (Susan) of Cleverdale, New York; her 5 grandchildren, Jesse, Toby (Kim), Holly (Nick), Scott, and Shaun (Sarah); and 3 great grandchildren, Gracie. Carsyn & Birdie. Molly is also survived by her sister, Betsy (Callahan) Carter '41 of Wilmington, Delaware, and several nieces and a nephew.
She passed away due to complications from the COVID-19 virus.
The family would like to express a very warm and special thank you to the staff of the Pines Nursing Home for the care that she received.
A celebration of life will be held privately by her family. Memorial donations may be made to Warren County Meals on Wheels, 1340 State Route 9, Lake George, NY 12845.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Regan Denny Stafford Funeral Home, 53 Quaker Road, Queensbury, NY 12804.
To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Mary Sargent please visit our Sympathy Store.
To view Online Obituary, Click here.
Alum '38
Died on November 20, 2020Virginia Mason Morgan “Ginnie” '38, 100, of Kennett Square, PA died on Friday, November 20th, in her home, surrounded by family. She left us quietly, in her sleep, with one of her grandchildren by her side. Ginnie, daughter of Charles Henry Mason and Marguerite Lauritsen Mason, was born on April 6, 1920 in her family’s home at the Anvil on the Longwood property of P.S. du Pont. She lived there until she met and married her husband, John McChesney Morgan “Johnnie Mac”, in 1941. She attended Wilmington Friends School and was a member of the first graduating class of their Alapocas location. Afterwards she attended Pine Manor Junior College in Brookline, Massachussetts.
One of Ginnie’s many achievements during her long life was learning to fly under her husband’s tutelage. In 1938 she soloed in a Fleet biplane specially modified so that she could reach the rudders. During the war she served as a volunteer, at one point even driving an ambulance.
Ginnie is survived by her daughter, Lynn Reynolds of Bethesda, Maryland, her three sons; Mac Morgan of Hockessin, DE, Mason Morgan of Colorado Springs, CO, and Rick Morgan of Kennett Square, PA, as well as her 8 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her daughter, Nancy, and her husband, Johnnie Mac. A memorial service will be postponed until the spring due to the COVID pandemic, more information will be forthcoming. Donations can be made to Willow Tree Hospice Care in Kennett Square, PA. For online condolences, please visit www.chandlerfuneralhome.com
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in The Daily Local from Dec. 3 to Dec. 6, 2020.
Click here to visit Online Obituary and Leave Condolences.
Alum '39
Died on August 24, 2020NEW HAVEN – Doris "Deb" Biesterfeld Townshend '39, a prominent and vibrant member of the New Haven community, passed away on August 24, 2020 at her cherished Victorian home on Townsend Avenue at the age of 98.
Deb was born in Mineola, NY and grew up in Wilmington, DE, one of four daughters of Mathilde and Chester Biesterfeld (head of the Patent Department at DuPont). She is a graduate of the Wilmington Friends School where she played field hockey and was the Captain of the girl's basketball team. She went on to graduate with a BA, major in child psychology, from Mount Holyoke College. On a train bound for college she met the love of her life, Henry "Harry" Townshend, Jr. of New Haven, who was on board returning to Dartmouth College. They married in June of 1942 and were inseparable for 70 years: produced 5 children, 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, who lovingly called Deb "Go-Gwa". One of Deb's goals in life was to have children and raise them well. She made every holiday epic and even invented a holiday of her own when the mid-summer fairy would come and decorate a tree outside with small gifts and "return to school" items.
Deb had a passion for writing, which she did from an early age to well into her 80s, producing 11 books and many articles for newspapers and newsletters. Her topics ranged from family genealogy to New Haven-East Haven-Fair Haven history; history on a property owned in Pomfret, CT; to years of chronicling Madison Valley life (past and present) in a weekly column for the Madisonian newspaper in Montana where she summered at the family's National Forest in-holding.
A strong belief in community compelled Deb to roll up her sleeves and join in on many local historic restoration projects, various local committees and fund raisers. She was a Past-President of Fort Nathan Hale Restoration Projects, Republican Women's Club, East Haven Historical Society, Junior League of New Haven, Nathan Hale School P.T.A. The past Vice-President and Honorary Member of The New Haven Preservation Trust. Chair of the Historic District Commission for 15 years. Historian of the First Church of Christ for 22 years (writing 100 articles for the church chronicle), Co-Founder & Chair of the Citizens Park Council. Co-Chair of the Quinnipiac Memorial Monument Committee. Chair of volunteers at the New Haven Historical Society, Docent at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. Chair of Mt. Holyoke's Class of 1943 25th reunion. Republican State Central Committee Woman 10th District. Deb formed an LLC to renovate the exterior of three buildings in the Fair Haven Historic District, and she was instrumental in saving a "quaint" bridge in Montana over the Madison River, known as The Hutchins Bridge, by getting it placed on the National Register of Historic Places. She was also instrumental in getting her husband's ancestral home on Townsend Avenue in New Haven placed on the National Register.
Deb's penchant for organization went beyond the Elm City boundaries. Ever a "doer", she was one of the co-founders of a hiking club in Cameron, Montana "The WOWs" (Women of the Wild) which started out as a club of 3 and has expanded to over 150 members. Deb had many interests including bell choir, music (she played the piano and has composed songs - one about New Haven titled "Our Fair Elm City"), and she was an avid dancer (tap and modern).
She was awarded for her persistence and hard work on behalf of the community she loved: 1974 New Haven Register Salute; 1976 YWCA Leadership Award; 1979 Elm City/Ivy Award; 1985 Margaret Flint Preservation Award; 1990 Connecticut League of Historical Societies Award of Merit; 1992 Seal of the City, which was also awarded to her husband, for public service in education, history and environment. In Montana a bench by the Madison River was dedicated to both she and Harry for their devotion to the history of the Madison Valley.
When Deb was a child she was asked, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Her answer: "kind". Her life of 98 years was nothing but kindness; a goal well met.
Deb was predeceased by her husband Harry (2012). She is survived by her children and their partners/spouses: Sharon Townshend and Fred Fauver (Pownal, ME); Dr. Cynthia Townshend-Lacock and Dr. Darrell Lacock (Guilford, CT); C. Hervey Townshend and Pamela Korn Townshend (Guilford, CT), Nancy Townshend-Vess and Karl Vess (Harwich Port, MA); Timothy Townshend and Susan Rosso Townshend (Pomfret, CT). Grandchildren: Heidi Brant; JeJe Brant; Dr. Joshua Brant; Timothy Ventimiglia; August Ventimiglia; Jared Townshend; Aaron Townshend; Jocelyn Townshend Faber; Tyler Jose; Tiffany Jose and numerous great-grandchildren.
Burial in the Grove Street Cemetery was private. A memorial service will be planned sometime in the future. Those who wish to make a remembrance may direct it to: Fort Nathan Hale Restoration Projects, PO Box 1981, New Haven, CT 06532; The New Haven Preservation Trust, PO Box 8968, New Haven, CT 06532; The New Haven Historical Society, 114 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06510.
To Plant Memorial Trees in memory, please visit our Sympathy Store.
Published in The New Haven Register on Sep. 2, 2020.
Click here to visit Online Obituary and Leave Condolences.
Relationship to WFS School/Alumni: Parents (P), Siblings (Sib), and/or Spouses/Partners (Sp) of our Alumni / Current students / Faculty or Staff Members, as well as Former Students (Ex + Grad year) and Friends of the School (F).
