LACONIA ---- Mary Dexter, who was delighted and awed to have reached her 100th birthday last October, died peacefully at the Taylor Community in Laconia on Monday, March 3, 2025.
Mary was born in Saugus, Massachusetts, on October 2, 1924. Her parents, Robert Morrison and Mildred McIntosh Morrison, owned the local pharmacy in Cliftondale. As a child, Mary adored her older brother, Bobby. She excelled at dancing and was often teased “Little Mary Morrison, dancing on her toes. Look for her onstage one day in one of Ziegfield’s shows.” Mary was an excellent student, graduating from Saugus High School and then from the five-year nursing program at Simmons College.
Her future husband, Harold Dexter, worked part-time at the Morrisons’ Cliftondale pharmacy. When Mary’s mother sent him to their home, allegedly so Harold could use the family’s unabridged dictionary for schoolwork, his attention was captivated by Mary instead. When he first saw her, wearing a light blue angora sweater, it was love at first sight.
They were married on November 30, 1946, and were loving and constant companions for the next seven decades. The two celebrated 74 happy anniversaries before Harold’s death in 2021.
After their wedding, Mary and Harold settled in Wakefield, MA, where Harold set up a dental practice. Mary was a devoted mother and homemaker who liked to bake and found creative ways to serve the many vegetables that the couple grew in their prolific gardens. Cold cucumber soup and hot broccoli soup were two favorites. She was also civic-minded, at one point serving as the president of the League of Women Voters in Wakefield. In later years, Mary, together with her dear friend Helen Denley, manned the linen table at the Gilford Community Church Fair on Gilford Old Home Day.
Throughout her life, Mary was an excellent athlete. In addition to hiking, canoeing and sailing with Harold, she played golf and tennis with her own circle of friends, and was a graceful downhill skier who could be seen on the slopes of Gunstock into her late 80's. Perhaps her most memorable athletic achievement was an infamous Can-Can dance performed at a school fundraiser when her daughters were young. Community members were scandalized by Mary’s fishnets and high kicks, though as the years passed, the incident was recalled, at least within the family, with laughter and pride.
Mary was also an avid reader, constantly with a book in hand. And she was a competitive contract bridge player, as well as an exceptionally talented duplicate bridge player, winning many tournaments with her long-time partner and friend from Wakefield, Meg Veale.
Together with Harold, Mary explored the world on many adventures, including sailing in the Caribbean; trekking in Peru, Nepal and New Zealand; and hiking the European Alps, where the couple made lifelong friends who would visit and exchange letters for decades to come.
Many of Mary's fondest memories were those of summers on Welch Island, in Gilford. The couple built two camps on the south side of Welch, the first in 1950 and the second in 1960. Mary and Harold always made room for family, visiting friends, and unexpected guests. Their island friends would load into the Chris-Craft for Saturday night big-band dances at Irwin Gardens in the Weirs. There were always early-morning dips in the lake, late-afternoon cocktails on the boathouse deck, and rousing games of Password around the dining table at night. Mary and Harold were a joyful sight into their early 90s, waving to neighbors from their impeccably-kept blue-and-white Eastern in Glendale, or navigating surely and steadily across the Broads, always following every navigation law to the letter.
Mary and Harold retired full-time to Gilford in 1993. As retirees, they were endlessly energetic and active in the community, joining the Gilford Community Church and becoming involved in the fundraising campaign for the new Gilford Public Library. They joined Elderhostel trips throughout the United States, making many new friends along the way. Mary and Harold lived independently until 2017, when they moved together to the Taylor Community, settling in Opechee Harbor, where Mary was aided by caring staff until her last day.
Mary is survived by her two daughters Daryl Thompson, with husband Brad, of Stewartstown, New Hampshire and Marylou Miller of Peacham, Vermont.
“Grammie Dexter” will always be remembered as a sweet, kind presence by her grandchildren: Kalee Thompson and husband Dan Koeppel of Portland, Maine; Becky and Pete Doherty of Wilmington, North Carolina; Jesse and Alison Thompson of Gilford; Abby Thompson and partner John Daly of Gilford; Chelsea Miller of Falls Village, Connecticut; Julianne Miller of Barre, Vermont; and Gavin Miller and wife Molly Kennedy, also of Peacham. Grammie lovingly read bedtime stories in the most calming voice. She always had a happy bounce to her step and would be humming pleasantly to herself as she moved through her day.
Grammie is also survived by eight great-grandchildren—Clara, Elizabeth, Otto, Laszlo, Jaxson, Jonah, Roslyn and Savine—who were declared “cunning” and offered cookies as they cycled through the boathouse camp on Welch Island.
Mary was predeceased by her beloved husband Harold; her brother Bob Morrison; her son-in-law Joe Miller; a grandson-in-law Jason Fopiano; and a dear great-grandson, John Bradley Thompson.
Friends and community members are welcome to join the family in remembering Mary on Friday, March 28, 2025, at 1:00pm, at the Gilford Community Church, 19 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, NH 03249.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Mary’s memory to the Gilford Community Church, 19 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, NH 03249, or the Gilford Public Library, 31 Potter Hill Road, Gilford, NH 03249.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation
Services/603Cremations.com, 164 Pleasant St., Laconia, NH, 03246, is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial, please visit wilkinsonbeane.com.