Date: Fri 07-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Full Text:

OBITS (Erickson; Mitchell)

Catherine Erickson

Catherine McGowan Woods Erickson, 70, a former resident of Newtown, died July

30 at her home in Westborough, Mass.

Mrs Erickson was the wife of Edward C. Erickson of Westborough, Mass. She was

born on August 7, 1927 in Chicago, the first child of the late Donald C. Woods

and Helen D. Woods.

She was educated at the Seaton Hill School in Greensburgh, Penn., and at Smith

College in Northampton, Mass. She and her husband, Ed, a Dartmouth man, met

through their respective roommates, who were brother and sister. They were

married on July 14, 1951, at her mother's home in Hinsdale, Ill.

Mrs Erickson worked for the Chase Paper Company for many years in Westborough,

before the Ericksons' move to Newtown. In 1978, she joined the staff of The

Newtown Bee and 15 years later left her copyediting job here when the

Ericksons returned to Westborough in 1993. After her return to Massachusetts,

she worked for a short time at The Willows, a retirement community in

Westborough.

Mrs Erickson was a member of the Evangelical Congregational Church in

Westborough for more than 40 years. She was also a member of the Westborough

Players' Club, and was given an honorary lifetime membership for her

dedication to that group, both as an actress and as director in several of its

theatrical productions. She is remembered by many in Newtown for her role as

Eleanor of Aquitane in a 1980s St Rose production of The Lion In Winter .

In addition to her husband, she leaves four children, Catherine M. Erickson of

Candia, N.H., Frederic W. Erickson, III, of Newburyport, Mass., James P.

Erickson of West Yarmouth, Mass., and Christina W. Erickson of Athens, Tenn.;

two daughters-in-law, Nancy B. Erickson of Newburyport, Mass. and Anne B.

Erickson of West Yarmouth, Mass.; a brother, John D. Woods of Denver, Colo.; a

sister, Susan Woods Paine of Cambridge, Mass.; and two cousins, Anne Evans

DeMormandie of Telford, Tenn. and Jack Evans of Canada and Florida; seven

grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service has been scheduled for Saturday, September 12, at 10 am, at

the Evangelical Congregational Church, on the corner of Church and West Main

streets in Westborough, Mass.

Donations in the memory of Mrs Erickson may be sent to American Cancer

Society, 30 Speen Street, Framingham, MA, 01701.

Edward Erickson's home address is 112 South Street, Westborough, Mass.,

01581-2123.

The Newtown Bee August 7, 1998

Jean F. Mitchell

Jean Fair Mitchell died in New York City on August 5 after a lengthy illness.

She may be remembered by her friends in Newtown as the retired head of The

Brearly School in New York City, where she lived on East End Avenue.

A respected violinist, she had a home in Blue Hill, Maine, an area that

reminded her of her beloved Scotland. She was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland, in

1910.

Ms Mitchell came to America to teach English as a graduate student at Smith

College and started her long career in education. She first came to Newtown as

a friend of Edna Carling, a Brearly teacher who for many years rented a home

on Taunton Lane from the Charles Colt family.

Friends may remember her with a contribution to the Jean Fair Mitchell

Scholarship Fund, The Brearly School, 610 East 83rd St, New York, N.Y. 10028.

A memorial service will be held at a later date, to be arranged by the Honan

Funeral Home.

The Newtown Bee August 7, 1998