Mary E. Bennett, 85
January 13, 2011
ROCKPORT — Mary Elizabeth (Rivers) Bennett, 85, of
Rockport, passed away
peacefully on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011 at the
Seacoast Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Gloucester. She was the
daughter of the late William I. Rivers and Eloise (Carle) Rivers.
Born in Boston, she was raised in Quincy and spent
summers in Cushing, Maine. She graduated from Thayer Academy and
worked at the Shawmut Bank in Boston until becoming a fulltime wife
and mother and bookkeeper for her husband John's marine welding
business.
When her girls were young, Mary was active in the
Girl Scouts, Rockport PTA, and the Salvation Army. For many years she
was the fulltime volunteer manager of the Calico Alley Thrift Shop of
the North Shore Children's Friend and Family Services. In more recent
years, she was devoted to the Thacher's Island Town Committee of which
she and her husband were co-chairs for several years.
She and her husband enjoyed square dancing and were
among the original members of the Gloucester Skippers Square Dance
Club. They also enjoyed traveling throughout the country, including a
10-week camping trip around the United States when their children were
young, and an especially memorable trip between Gloucester and
Cleveland aboard the towboat Tioga where Mary was the volunteer cook.
She always enjoyed the winter and was an avid
snowmobiler and member of the North Franklin Snowmobile Club in
Phillips, Maine. She relished trips to the family camp in Madrid,
Maine-despite the absence of running water-until declining health made
travel impossible.
She is survived by John, her husband of 66 years;
daughters, Linda Berard of Rockport and Alice Bennett of Hartland,
Vt.; sister-in-law, Winifred (Bennett) Corniea of El Cerrito, Calif.;
several first cousins and their families; and close family friend, J.
Gregory Porter of Gloucester and West Glover, Vt.
ARRANGEMENTS: A memorial service and scattering of
her ashes off Thacher's Island will be scheduled for the spring.
Donations may be made in her memory to the Thacher's Island
Association, Box 73, Rockport, MA 01966. Arrangements are by the
Burgess and Mackey Funeral Home, 201 Main Street, Rockport. Online
condolences may be given at
www.greelyfuneralhome.com.
