Alice Williams, of Hingham, passed away on March 18, at age 94.
A member of the Old Ship Church in Hingham, she staked out her pew upon joining the congregation and held claim to it for nearly 65 years. She was a descendant of Captain James Collier of Cohasset, who in the 19th century, commanded over a dozen trips around Cape Horn under sail and delivered numerous cargoes to India and South America. Her ancestors included original early settlers of the town of Hingham and Bostons South Shore.
About the age of 16, she attended a series of formal dances in Boston. During a Ladies Choice, she met a soon-to-be Harvard freshman, Ware Williams, and was certain that she had met the man she would marry. Indeed, when Alice was 21 and WWII was raging, she did marry Ware Williams, who was on a 4 day pass from his tour of duty with the Navy. When the war was over, Alice and Ware purchased a house overlooking Hingham Harbor and raised a family. During an especially hot 4th of July weekend in the early 1970s the couple was sailing on the Weymouth River and the mast of their boat hit a low lying high tension electrical line that showered sparks on her husbands clothing, set it on fire, and caused his heart to stop beating. Alice beat out the flames on his clothing with bare hands and applied mouth to mouth resuscitation which successfully re-started his heart. Her swift and courageous action extended their lives together for over 40 years. After the couples children had grown up, Alice searched for new meaning and purpose to life outside of the comfort of her community and home. She then enrolled as a special student at various colleges and universities in the area and ended up with a Law Workers Certificate from the University of Massachusetts College of Public Service. Starting at the age of 60 and for the next 9 years she became an advocate for children with special needs at a time when public schools were adjusting to mandated programs. She successfully found help for scores of young scholars who needed it without charging a fee or drawing a salary for herself. At the age of 79, she organized a family reunion of over sixty members from all parts of the country. Alice was an excellent cook, loved by her family and a dog named Teeny. She was outspoken for womans rights, voted Democrat, and was loved for her humor and support. She was affectionately known to her grandchildren as Big Al and will be deeply missed.
Alice is survived by her sister, Elaine Pinkham of Hopkinton, N.H.; son, Peter of Lynnfield; daughter, Wendy of Scituate; son, Lincoln of Beverly; and daughter, Meg Lind of Hingham. She leaves 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.
A service to celebrate her life will be held at the Old Ship Church in Hingham, Saturday, June 13, at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be sent to the Massachusetts Advocates for Children, 25 Kingston Street, 2nd floor, Boston, MA 02111, or First Parish Church (Old Ship Church), 107 Main Street, Hingham, MA 02043. For additional information and online guest book, visit www.downingchapel.com. Downing Cottage Funeral Chapel Since 1882
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Published in The Patriot Ledger on Apr. 4, 2015.
A note I received from my sister (Carol Sargent Dunning) who lives in Hokpinton/Contoocook, after I asked her if she knew her:
I just looked up Elaine Pinkham and she died a couple of years ago. But I did know her in her last years as I drove her a few times to appointments in my volunteer Dial a Ride job. She was one of my favorites, a good Unitarian and a good liberal and a good conversationalIst. I do remember that she had no kids but was close to some nieces or nephews. I wish I knew at the time that we were related. That would have been such fun. But who discusses their maiden names right away.
ELEANOR MORRIS COLLIER, TRAVELER, SAILOR
By Jon Anderson and Tribune Staff Writer
Chicago Tribune
October 29, 1998
A member of Chicago's pioneering McCormick family, Eleanor Morris Collier was born in the stately Near North Side home that later housed the John Carroll Sons funeral home. Her father had been born across the street, in what later became the Chez Paul restaurant.
Mrs. Collier, 88, a longtime resident of Lake Bluff, died Sunday in Lake Forest Hospital after a brief illness.
A woman of great tact, elegance and discretion, Mrs. Collier was also a skilled sailor and intrepid traveler, relatives recalled.
"We had wonderful trips, to a cooking school in Venice, to India, Greece, Japan, Egypt. I have a wonderful picture of her on a camel," said Mary McCormick, a sister-in-law who lives in San Diego.
"She was an extremely elegant, quiet, dignified lady, but when she was on the water, she was a totally different person," added her daughter Ann Rutherfurd Cohen, better known as Andy Austin, a courtroom sketch artist for WLS-Ch. 7. "Sailing, she became extremely authoritative, totally in command, a wonderful navigator and afraid of nothing."
A great-granddaughter of Leander McCormick who, with his brother, Cyrus, was a co-founder of International Harvester, Mrs. Collier grew up on the Near North Side. She was the daughter of Robert Hall McCormick, a lawyer, philanthropist and art collector who served as an assistant state's attorney and briefly as an alderman during World War I.
"One of her fondest memories, as a little girl, was when her father took her to a nearby firehouse, and one of the firemen slid down a pole with her in his arms," said Cohen, recalling her mother's stories of a neighborhood where, at one time, 11 branches of the McCormick family lived in separate homes.
Other survivors include another daughter, Eleanor Morris Dwight; a son, Sargent Collier; seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Her husband, Sargent Collier, a photographer and writer, died in 1968.
Funeral services will be held Saturday at Mrs. Collier's summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine.
DWIGHT--Eleanor Collier, 72, died on November 16. Born September 5, 1938, in Boston, she attended St. Timothy's and Shipley schools and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1960. She earned a master's degree from Columbia University in 1964 and a Ph.D. in American literature from New York University in 1984. She lived all her adult life in New York City. An Edith Wharton scholar, she wrote an illustrated biography of Edith Wharton, published in 1994. Her other books portrayed Diana Vreeland, the Gilded Age in New York City, and tennis innovator James Van Alen. Her articles on gardens, travel, and literature appeared in Harper's Bazaar, House Beautiful, and New York magazines, and the New York Times. She taught and lectured extensively on literature and gardens. She gardened with her husband at their summer home on Mount Desert Island, Maine. A formidable intellect, she served on the boards of Edith Wharton's estate "The Mount," the Colony Club, and the Garden Club of Mount Desert, and was a member of the Century Association. Married 34 years to George H.P. Dwight, who died in 2009, she is survived by her three children, Daphne Trotter, Willard Gardiner, and Sargent Gardiner; her five step-children, Lucinda Dwight, George Dwight, Margaret Dwight, Bradley Dwight, and Susannah Prout; eight grandchildren; and seven step-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 4pm on Tuesday, December 7, at St. Michael's Church, 225 West 99th Street, New York, NY. Donations to the George and Eleanor Dwight Memorial Fund at Groton School, Groton, MA, and The Mount, Lenox, MA, are welcome.
Published by New York Times on Nov. 22, 2010.
DWIGHT--George H.P., 81, died of cancer on February 27. Born on August 6, 1927, a life-long New Yorker, he worked passionately to make the city a better place. After graduating from Groton School in 1945, he attended Harvard and then Columbia Law School, graduating in 1952, the articles editor of the Law Review. As a young lawyer, George was Special Assistant Corporation Counsel under Mayor Robert Wagner. A passionate Democrat, he joined the Lexington Democratic Club, a reform club, in the 1950s, eventually becoming president. On the boards of the United Neighborhood Houses of New York and Union Settlement for many years, he most recently crusaded to prevent the Washburn Wire Factory site on the East River from becoming a mall and to create Vision Harlem, a plan to highlight Harlem's landmarks, relink its neighborhoods and connect the entire community to the rest of the City. He was a partner at the firm of Richards & O'Neil and most recently of counsel at McLaughlin & Stern. An ardent gardener, George grew wild flowers on the rocks of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Married for 34 years to Eleanor Collier Dwight, he is survived by his five children- Lucinda Dwight, George Dwight, Margaret Dwight, Bradley Dwight and Susannah Prout-his three step-children- Daphne Trotter, Willard Gardiner and Sargent Gardiner, seven grandchildren, and seven step-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 4pm on Thursday, March 12 at St. Michael's Church, 225 West 99th Street, New York, NY. Donations to Union Settlement and the Groton School, Groton, MA are welcome.
Published in The New York Times on March 2, 2009.