Vital Statistics

Obituaries

1921

Crete Carll Tracy, Sept. 14, 2000.
A member of The Bates Key, Crete Carll Tracy was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She taught English, history, and Spanish at Hanover (N.H.) High School. In 1922 she married Leighton Tracy ’20. They moved to Pelham, N.Y., where they were active in church and civic organizations. She was an officer of the Bates Club in New York and in western Pennsylvania. The Tracys traveled throughout the United State and to London, and spent more than a year with her sister in Kuwait City. In the 1960s she taught for a time in Canterbury, N.H., managed the New Orleans Tea Room in Melrose, Mass., and later helped classmate Minerva Cutler with her David’s Folly Guest House in South Brooksville, Maine. Crete Carll Tracy was the sole member of her class to attend her 75th reunion in 1996. She belonged to university and women’s clubs and was chaplain of PEO. She leaves sister Belva Carll Clapp ’29, cousin Wilma Carll Rollins ’26 and was predeceased by her husband in 1970 and cousin Miriam Carll Diversi ’28.

Eunice T. Hawkins, Nov. 11, 2000.
Eunice Hawkins taught French, Latin, and history in Camden, Thomaston, Howland, and later in Lisbon and Franklin (N.H.) schools. Continuing her education she took courses at Bates Summer School and at Middlebury. Franklin was her home for many years, where she also served as the local librarian for more than 16 years and was organist at the United Methodist Church for 32 years. On her retirement, the church celebrated a Day of Appreciation in her honor. She had been a member of Rebekahs, the Women’s Club, Webster Grange, and the local historical society. She lived at Peabody Home where she participated in the pet therapy program and received visits from children’s groups.

1922

Grace Gould Simonton, Dec. 3, 2000.
Grace Gould Simonton was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and was a member of The Bates Key. After a year at Lyndon (Vt.) Normal School, she taught all eight grades in Waterford in 1917 including history, German, astronomy, piano, English and Spanish. In 1918 she taught five grades, then entered Bates. After graduation she taught at Lyndon Institute for two years. Following her marriage to William Simonton in 1924 she was a homemaker and worked with her husband on their farm. In the 1940s she returned to teaching full time, ran a summer school for boys on Sebago Lake, and taught at Portland High School, retiring in 1965. She was an officer in the Portland Bates Alumnae Club and served as treasurer of her class and The Bates Key. She was a gardener and a member of Woodfords Congregational Church, where she played piano and taught Sunday school. She was past president of the Woman’s Woodfords Club. She leaves grandson William and great-grandchildren Candice and Brenan. Her husband predeceased her in 1965 and son David predeceased her in 1975.

Elva Perry Gill, Nov. 23, 2000.
After teaching for a year at Stony Brook, N.Y., Elva Perry married her husband, William, in 1923 and moved to New Jersey. A homemaker and mother, she returned to teaching, earned her M.Ed. from Newark State Teachers College (now Kean College) in 1957, taught sixth grade in Lindenhurst, and retired in 1980. She moved to Georgia and spent many summers in Maine in her birthplace, Norway. A member of DAR and Eastern Star, she was a Mayflower descendant. Among her special interests were tole painting, making prize-winning wall hangings, and knitting afghans and lace. In her 92nd year she finished her 67th quilt by hand. She enjoyed life in her villa and continued to buy her groceries and get her own meals when she was in her 90s. She leaves sons Harold and William, eight grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandchild. Her husband predeceased her in 1977.

1928

Wilder J. Greeley, Nov. 15, 2000.
Wilder Greeley attended Bates from 1924 to 1925, yet he and his wife, Benita, remained interested in and supportive of the College all his life. He was a member of the Southern Connecticut Bates Club, volunteered in the Career Counseling Program, chaired the class 60th Reunion Gift Committee and represented Bates at several college inaugurations. During his life in Connecticut, he worked in sales for New England Telephone Co. and for several other companies. Among his many civic interests were the Mental Health Assn., Republican Town Committee, Chamber of Commerce, and radio broadcasting. He was general manager of the Woodbury-Waterbury Skating Rink Assn. A former president and district governor of Kiwanis, Wilder Greeley was a 33rd degree Mason and trustee of New Haven Consistory of Knights Templar, chairing their rehabilitation committee. He leaves his wife, Benita, and daughter, Benita.

Beatrice Libby Weston, Aug. 26, 2000.
Beatrice Libby Weston was assistant secretary at the Lewiston-Auburn YWCA after graduation, planning and directing activities for the young women who lived at the Y while working in business and industry. She married Von Weston ’30, raised daughters Sarah and Martha. Always involved in musical activities, she also was president of her local hospital auxiliary during its expansion. In addition to her family, she enjoyed gardening. Among her survivors are two daughters, five grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. Her husband predeceased her in 1991.

Ruth E. Moore, Sept. 10, 2000.
For nearly 30 years, Ruth Moore was an executive with the YWCA in Lewiston, Manchester, N.H., the Binghamton area of New York, and New Haven, Conn., working mainly in educational and recreational programs for young women who worked in factories. During her career she took graduate courses at New York School for Social Work and at Smith College. She taught in New Jersey at Highland Manor Junior College (now Monmouth State), then was an English teacher at New London (Conn.) High School for 25 years. She retired to Portland in 1972 where she was a member of the Portland Bates Club, established the County Retired Teachers Assn., and was a member of the state SPCA. She belonged to the First Church of Christ Scientist. Deeply devoted to her extended family, Miss Moore credited Bates for making “possible professional opportunities that gave her a personally rewarding and long life experience,” wrote her nephew, Arthur. He survives, as do nephew Richard and grandniece Jennifer Kimball.

Boyd S. Richardson, Oct. 11, 2000.
A long banking career was ahead for Boyd Richardson, but graduating during the Depression he first worked in the Sunapee, N.H., area at the Whitefield Mountain View House and at Poland Spring House, spending the winter at Sorena Hotel in St. Petersburg, Fla. He returned to New Hampshire, later was assistant treasurer of Whitefield Savings Bank & Trust Co., then was vice president and director of Farmers Guaranty Savings Bank. He continued his banking career as president and director of the Windham National Bank of Bellows Falls, Vt., as vice president and treasurer of Franklin County Trust Co. of Greenfield, Mass. He also served as a trustee on the board of investment and chaired the fund appeal of the Greenfield Industrial Division Area Corp. He was past president of the Greenfield YMCA, an officer of the local chamber of commerce, and served on the county mental health association and the zoning board of appeals. He leaves sons Boyd Jr. and John and daughters Betsy and Sally. His wife Alice (Betz) predeceased him in 1974.

Katharine Tubbs Corey, Aug. 10, 2000.
A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Katharine Tubbs Corey earned master’s and Ph.D. degrees in classics at Illinois. She also had studied at Vermont and Colorado. After she taught and coached at Newport (N.H.) High School, she joined the faculty of Hanover College to teach Greek and Latin. In 1935 she spent a semester at Keuka College, a summer at the Univ. of Illinois, and taught English part time at Kent State, where her husband taught economics for 35 years. After retirement, they moved to Green Valley, Ariz., and traveled extensively. She enjoyed mountain climbing, including Long’s Peak in Colorado, and sliding down the Arapahoe Glacier. A compiler of Classica Americana, she researched the Greek New Testament manuscripts written by men who produced the King James version of the Bible, drawing parallels between Plato and the New Testament. She belonged to several professional associations, the Faculty Women’s Club, and the election board; she was a Girl Scout leader and belonged to the United Church of Christ in Kent and Green Valley. She leaves daughter Elaine and son Brian and their spouses; granddaughter Meredith; sister A. Evangeline ’27; and grandnephew Leslie Crane ’76. She was the daughter of the late Frank Dean Tubbs, professor of geology from 1907 to 1929, and was predeceased by her husband, Stanley, in 1998 and by a half sister, Margaret T. Crane ’12.

1929

Louise Abbott Gerrish, Sept. 19, 2000.
A homemaker and teacher, Louise Abbott Gerrish first was assistant proprietor of the Chesterbrook Inn, Scarborough, before she married Henry T. Gerrish in 1931 and raised a son and daughter. In 1952 she began teaching for nine years at Higgins Classical Institute, then for 11 years she taught English, French, and Latin at Foxcroft Academy. In recognition of the “highest degree of professionalism,” the academy presented her with the Tilson D. Thomas Award. For 64 years she lived in Dover-Foxcroft, where she was an officer in the Percolator Club for charitable causes and the Original Dirt Diggers Garden Club, and a member of the Congregational Church. She also served on the bicentennial committee of Dover-Foxcroft history. Her survivors include son H. Thomas and daughter Marie G. Woodbrey ’53; six granddaughters; 15 great-grandchildren; and cousin Dorothy Parker Ludwick ’31. She was predeceased by her husband in 1989 and a great-grandson.

1931

Kenneth F. Dore, Dec. 16, 2000.
Dr. Kenneth Dore practiced medicine in Fryeburg, serving that town and surrounding areas as a country doctor, making house calls, sometimes by jeep, horse-drawn wagon, or on snowshoes. He visited homebound people and patients at a nearby logging camp and held office hours whenever he was needed and used his home as the local emergency and delivery room; he was a “walking drug store.” He charged $2 a visit or accepted a can of beans or handwork for payment and his family helped take care of patients. After earning his M.D. at Tufts Medical School in 1936, he was the doctor in Fryeburg until 1971 when he practiced only in the summer. A lifetime member of state and national medical associations, he served on the Board of Medical Examiners. He and his wife, Dorothy Stevens Dore ’36, whom he married in 1936, spent seven months in Florida during the ’80s. Among his survivors are son Steven and daughters Emily Dore Fletcher ’61 and Ellen Dore Witham ’63; and eight grandchildren. His wife predeceased him in 1996.

Audrey Waterman Hayes, March 13, 2000.
Audrey Waterman Hayes was born in Boston, Mass., and at age 5 she was adopted by Willard and Sadie Waterman, of Auburn. She graduated from Edward Little High School in Auburn and was an elementary school teacher in the Florida school system for 20 years. She volunteered at the South Bay Hospital, the Sun City Center library, and other activities in Sun City Center, Fla., where she and her husband, Lester, spent their retirement years. During World War II, she worked for the Cleveland ration board and was also president of the Brooklyn High School PTA in Cleveland, Ohio. She and her husband, Lester D. Hayes, were married for 58 years until his death in 1989. They are survived by their two sons, Lester D. Jr. of Green Cove Springs, Fla., and Douglas W. of Sun City Center. The couple has six grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

1933

George Royce Dean Sr., Dec. 18, 2000.
George Dean received an M.Ed. from Colby College in 1940 and in later years also took courses at MIT, Union, and Carnegie-Mellon. In 1942 he became a science and physics teacher and later athletic director at Spaulding High School in Barre, Vt. When he retired in 1974 he was head of the science department. A Boy Scout leader, he played baseball in the local summer Industrial League and maintained a lifetime interest in young people, team sports, and geology. He served as secretary-treasurer and educational advisor for the Vermont chapter of the National Assn. of the Civilian Conservation Corps alumni. He was a member of the Hedding United Methodist Church; local, county and state retired teachers assns.; and the National Education Assn. Among his survivors are his wife, the former Bernice Wheeler, whom he married in 1937, son George Jr., and several cousins.

Lyman Holman, June 16, 2000.
Educator Lyman Holman earned his M.Ed. from Maine in 1943 and also studied at Colby, Dartmouth, and MIT. He taught in Weld, Mars Hill, and Lubec before becoming principal of Dixfield High School. Then he taught chemistry and science and coached sports at Rumford High School as he had done at previous schools. After he retired in 1972 to Dixfield, Lyman Holman served on the planning board, as trustee of the Memorial Library, and as volunteer driver for Western Maine Transportation for the elde