Mary Huguette (Sutton) Melville
April 12, 1929 – October 20, 2017
Mary died peacefully in her sleep, as she had wished, at Holbrook at Piper Shores, Scarborough, Maine, after a long illness, just six months after the passing of her husband of 62 years, Donald Melville.
SCARBOROUGH- Mary was born in Cairo, Egypt into a large extended family with Jewish, Italian and middle-eastern roots. She spoke French and Italian at home and learned English at five, when she started school. She moved to London, England at 18 to study natural sciences, but had to return to Cairo when her young brother died. After two years, she moved back to London and began her career as a statistician in London. There she met Donald at Dunlop Rubber Company, where they both worked. He eventually persuaded her to marry him on June 16, 1955. That August they sailed to the United States where Mary worked as a statistical assistant in the Harvard Economics Department while Don finished his MBA at Harvard Business School. The following year they moved to Manhattan and she became a researcher for Fortune Magazine.
In 1959 Mary gave birth to their first daughter, Wendy Frances, and in 1961 Jennifer Katherine was born. In the early 1960’s Mary became the “The French Lady”, teaching her native language to small children through songs and games on New York’s PBS station. In 1967, the family relocated to Worcester, MA where they lived until Don and Mary moved to Piper Shores in Scarborough, ME in 2008.
In Worcester, Mary became a civic leader, especially well known as a champion of the environment and women rights. Her interests also included education, current affairs, music, theatre, the arts, and travel. Her community involvement included, but was not limited to serving on boards and volunteering for Clark University, the Ecotarium, The Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Planned Parenthood of Central Massachusetts, Worcester Women’s History Project, Worcester County Mechanics Association, radio station WICN and The First Unitarian Church.
When they first moved to Worcester, Mary worked for Barre Publishing Company researching and writing book covers, press releases and catalogues. In 1978, Mary was instrumental in the establishment of Clark University’s Robert Hutchings Goddard Memorial, which houses Goddard’s papers and other materials on rocketry and space exploration. Mary also worked as a research associate, specializing in occupational health and safety, at Clark’s Center for Technology, Environment and Development (CENTED) from 1977-89. In 1984, Mary was the proud recipient of a Master of Arts in Environmental Affairs from Clark. In the 80’s Mary joined the First Unitarian Church of Worcester. She was a dedicated member and served as moderator from 1989-1992. In an extension of Mary’s love for all things scientific, she became passionate about the renewal of the Ecotarium (formerly the New England Science Center) where she served on its board and became its president at the ripe young age of 74. In 1998, Mary was honored by the city of Worcester as one of 3 “Women of Consequence” for her “years of activism as a community volunteer that included the ‘Honoring Women in Mechanics Hall’ project which she co-chaired.” She leaves a legacy of social activism, volunteerism and determination that we all work hard to measure up to.
After their move to Scarborough in 2008, Don and Mary focused on traveling, their new community and their family. Over the years Mary engineered several memorable family trips – to Italy, several Caribbean islands, Greece, Paris and England. The extended family enjoyed their last big trip together to celebrate Mary’s 80th Birthday in Costa Rica. Don and Mary spent several winters in Southern California, where Wendy and her family lived, until 2012 when they stopped traveling due to Mary’s decreased mobility and failing health.
Mary was deeply committed to her immediate and extended family and loved being a mother and grandmother. Mary is survived by her daughters, Wendy Mains (Wayne) and Jennifer Melville (Alex Abbott) as well as four adoring and adored grandchildren, Katherine Mayer (Jacob), Olivia Mains, Caleb Abbott and Grace Abbott.
Wendy and Jennifer would like to thank the staff at Piper Shores, Comfort Keepers, especially Christine Libby and Deborah Jones, Holbrook and Compassus for the excellent, consistent and compassionate care they afforded our mother over the last six years.
There will be a celebration of Mary’s life at The First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester, MA on Sunday, November 19th at 2pm.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Chad E. Poitras Cremation and Funeral Service, Buxton. Online condolence messages can be submitted at www.mainefuneral.com
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Mary’s honor to The Piper Shores Employee Holiday Fund, 15 Piper Road, Scarborough, ME 04074 or Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, 1055 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215.