Mary Patricia Carroll Brigham, 90, of Northfield, Vt., died November 12, after a short illness.

Mary Pat was born in Newtown, on August 7, 1931. She graduated from Newtown High School and then Wellesley College in 1953. She married her high school sweetheart Eric Johnson and together they raised three children. She later married longtime Montpelier, Vt., resident Loriman Brigham and has been a resident in the Montpelier area since 1982, most recently in Northfield, Vt.

Mary Pat’s interest in discovering her family genealogy led her to become a volunteer at the Vermont Historical Society. She trained as a librarian and later became an employee at the VHS Library. She enjoyed helping others track down especially obscure details about their ancestors. She also trained as a photo archivist, using those skills working with the VHS’s photo collection, and gave many seminars at genealogical conferences throughout New England.

Mary Pat was a member of the Catholic church. She enjoyed singing for many years in the choir of St Augustine’s Catholic Church in Montpelier.

Mary Pat enjoyed birdwatching throughout her life, creating annual and life lists, and traveling to unexpected places to look for different species. She also enjoyed traveling, whether around the country or to family in Ireland or Italy, or on a world cruise with her husband. She was an accomplished seamstress, sewing clothing throughout most of her life, and doing embroidery and crewel work and some quilt making as an adult.

Mary Pat was predeceased by her husband, Loriman Brigham; her son, Robert Johnson; her parents, Patrick and Alice Carroll; her brother, James Carroll; and her sister, Justine Geckle.

She is survived by her daughter, Alice Johnson; her son, Mark Johnson; her grandchildren, Callista Rasmussen, Marta and husband Nick Poling, and Karl Johnson; a great-grandson, Henry Poling; her brother-in-law, George Geckle, and his sons, Geordie Geckle and Richard Geckle, and their families; her sister-in-law, Patricia Carroll, and her children, Gus Carroll, Bernadette Carroll, Deidre Clune, Cassandra O’Connell, Max Carroll, Erin Begley, and Finian Carroll, and their families; cousin, Kathleen Gacso; and her husband’s sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday, November 19, at 2:30 pm at St Rose of Lima Church in Newtown. Interment will follow in St Rose Cemetery, also in Newtown. Friends may call at the Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown on Friday from 1:45 to 2:15 pm prior to Mass.

In lieu of flowers, consider a donation to the Vermont Historical Society, vermonthistory.org, or another organization of your choice.