A Life Remembered

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A Life Remembered: Provincetown Artist Bill Maynard, Beloved Teacher to Hundreds Jul 26, 2016

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In a home movie of Bill Maynard’s 91st birthday party, more than a dozen friends are gathered inside a neighbor’s house in Provincetown. Maynard is sitting in the center of the room in a brown, leather chair. Cake is brought out. He blows out the candles. And Maynard starts talking about his life -- about how he got the chance to become a painter. “I remember when I was a kid, around 12-years-old, [at] our house in Brookline, there was always a painting on an easel,” Maynard said. “My father was a plumber by trade, and was a self-taught artist. So anytime you’d go in there, there was always a painting on an easel. Either half-finished or beginning or whatever. And I, as a kid growing up, became very very interested in watching my father paint. He was nice enough to explain to me how … important it was to mix the colors properly, etcetera.” But his father couldn’t afford to send him to art school. So instead, Maynard joined the US Army. During World War II, he patrolled for German U

A Life Remembered: Tuckernuck Island's Most Devoted Guardian Apr 06, 2015

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Tuckernuck Island off Nantucket feels like a place out of time. With just a few dozen homes connected by grassy roads, it’s held onto its wild character and sense of the past. That’s probably in part because it’s pretty remote. But it’s also thanks to the efforts and presence of Bam La Farge . "He served, y’know, he watched over the place," said Jim Tyler, a friend of La Farge's dating back to the 1960s and right up until La Farge died in February. "He was the caretaker, curator, guardian. I don’t think anybody who ever knew Bam could go look or hear about Tuckernuck without bringing him right in with it." La Farge was a big man, physically and emotionally. And he really didn’t care what other people thought of him. As evidence, his daughter Cate La Farge Summers says he had a distinctive smile. "He had had one of his front teeth knocked out I think in a baseball accident when he was a kid," Cate said. "And through most of his life wore a fake tooth, but in later years, just decided

A Life Remembered: Ruth Bates, the South Coast's 'Ruth Appleseed'' Dec 01, 2014

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When the irresistible force known as Ruth Bates walked into a classroom, wearing her signature red high top sneakers, her students knew immediately that it would be no ordinary class. A teacher, gardener, cook, baker, traveler, hiker and sailor, Bates’s zest for life and boundless energy fired her students’ imagination, enabling them to tap into their own creativity. Colleague Diane Perry said Bates’s passion for learning and teaching were equaled only by her love of the natural world. “She entered my life first when I was teaching and I worked with her at Center School," Perry said. "She was a substitute teacher and planted so much love of learning. It just came so naturally to her; it was wonderful to watch. I watched her do literal planting of flowers and trees all over Mattapoisett and marsh grass on the beach to help keep the dunes and the waterfront from washing away. I watched her working with so many people and sharing her enthusiasm for life. And as I was thinking of all these

A Life Remembered: Betty Durfee, a Nurse and Counselor to Students Nov 10, 2014

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Emblazoned below the image of a full-rigged ship, the old Tabor’s motto proclaims “All-A-Taut,” a nautical turn of phrase entirely consistent with the salty ambience of this seaport town. For more than 40 of her 82 years, Betty Durfee was the school’s head nurse. It was a good fit. Durfee was old school too. She ran the infirmary and, in keeping with the school motto, people who knew her say she ran a very tight ship. Over her four decades of service, thousands of teenage students and dozens of faculty members came to appreciate Durfee’s skill, compassion, and common sense as she went about her duties. “I knew Betty Durfee for almost thirty years here at Tabor," said Dick Duffy, who teaches in Tabor's history department. "I was the dean for eighteen years and Betty was the head nurse and I could always count on her to take the sick and the wounded. And I would have to take some of the miscreants and various disheveled shapes, and on weekends I’d bang on the door at all hours of the

A Life Remembered: Don Dickinson, Helped Create Homes for 75 Needy Families Sep 01, 2014

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Before the tool belts were strapped on or the first nail was pounded, Don Dickinson was looking over plans, writing proposals and talking to people. He was doing the groundwork. "He was just dedicated to the idea that people should be able to afford a decent place to live if they were working folks," said Warren Brody, a Mashpee-based attorney, and Dickinson's friend. Brody also volunteers at Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod. "I think he had a fundamental and very deep sense of fairness," he said, "and (Don) felt that it was so unfair that people on the Cape could work hard and not be able to afford a decent place to live. And he felt that very personally and felt he needed to do something about it." This is an excerpt from the Life Remembered story about Don Dickinson. To hear the full story, click the LISTEN button above.

Harold Purington Brought Joy To Friends, Family and the Public With His Craftsmanship Jun 02, 2014

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Harold Purington grew up in Framingham and lived the last 11 years of his life in Fairhaven. Harold was a World War II pilot, a devoted family man, and a born craftsman who brought joy to many people over the years through his woodworking creations.

A Life Remembered: George Webbere - a veteran, a family man, a gardener and a talent May 12, 2014

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After retiring from military and government work in the mid-1970s , George Webbere needed something to do. He had the garden to tend in the spring and summer. But when it turned cold, one of the things Webbere did was produce radio programs for the blind, including a story hour - one that became syndicated across the country throughout the Radio Reading Network. NARRATION: “The next mystery program is the story Venus Fly Trap by Ruth Randell… ." That’s Charlie Webbere, narrating. NARRATION: "Daphne and Merl were old friends, but they hadn't seen each other in years. Widowed now, Daphne had come to live in Merl's neighborhood… As soon as Daphne had taken off her hat and put it on Merl's bed, Merl picked it up and rammed it on her own yellow curls. It was a red felt hat…" “The blind were people he wanted to help," said Webbere's daughter, Sandra. "He was an avid reader. If you look around the house you see book cases hiding behind every door. And he liked plays. As a little boy he was

Helen Lewis: The Perfect Ending to a Wonderful Life Mar 24, 2014

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Helen Jean Lewis already was in her 90s when she moved to the Royal Nursing Center in Falmouth, three years ago, and it was a long life’s journey that brought her here — 94 years that she filled with travel and music, prayer and food. The following is an excerpt of the Life Remembered featuring Helen Jean Lewis. To hear the full story, click the LISTEN button above . Her friends and family say she was a woman who shared a lot, whether it was wisdom, stories or meals. For her roommate and friend Cinthia Karaffa, Lewis shared something bigger — her unwavering faith that God would take care of her. “I got comfort from that," Karaffa said. "I'm not afraid. I was afraid of dying when I came in here. And I've always been afraid of dying, but I'm no longer because of Helen. When it happens, it happens." For Helen Lewis, it happened on a Saturday morning after a life well-lived — and a jelly donut. "Oh, my goodness," said her youngest granddaughter, Jay-me Brown, "the jelly donut, how

A Life Remembered: "She never gave up," preserving Falmouth history Feb 03, 2014

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In the second half of her life, Mary Lou Smith became known for being the person who knew the most about Falmouth history, and perhaps, the person who cared the most about saving it. After raising four daughters in Woods Hole with her husband, Paul Smith, she turned to historic preservation starting in her early sixties. Among her most enduring accomplishments was editing "The Book of Falmouth," a volume of photographs, memories, and history that has become an important historical reference. It was published to coincide with Falmouth's 300th anniversary in 1986. She was instrumental in saving the 1878 mansion Highfield Hall from demolition in the 1990s, as well as getting the town to renovate the 1930's-era Mullen Hall School when some suggested building a new school elsewhere. Mary Lou Smith was a founder of the Woods Hole Historical Museum and its journal, "Spritsail," which is still published twice a year. She is remembered as a buoyant woman who had a knack for getting people to

A Life Remembered: Peter Gonnella, Committed to Coaching Jan 07, 2014

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This May will mark two years since her husband Peter died, and Kerry Gonnella's greatest fear is that he will be forgotten. "I don't want his memory to fade," she said. "That's what happens. People die, people move on. Which is fine. That's life. But I want people to remember him." Peter Gonnella was the father of three children. He also was a coach and a teacher. His student-athletes describe him as a charismatic person who inspired them. They say that he cared about them. And that's not something people forget. "I could never forget him ever," said 18-year-old Erin Minns, one of Gonnella's players. "I still have the newspaper article about his passing up on my wall in my bedroom." Minns met Gonnella when she was a freshman trying out for the Harwich Girls Basketball team. "He helped me build my confidence not only in basketball but in life in general," she said. "I was more confident in myself and that made me happier. He just always had a very happy energy about him." Gonnella

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