Cornelia E. (Gronberg) Desmond
Cornelia E. (Gronberg)
Desmond, widow of Robert J. Desmond of Ipswich, passed away Monday June
4, 2012 after suffering a long illness. The oldest child of Olaf E. and
Helen (Lundgren) Gronberg, “Connie” as she was known to many, was born
in Salem, and attended Salem schools graduating with the class of 1944.
In August 1946, Bob and Connie, high school sweethearts, married and
began a family.
Connie was a
homemaker to her growing family, working at MacMillan Labs in the early
1960s. Connie and Bob also started a roadside farm stand at their
Ipswich address, the 40 Shades of Green Farm. Later, in 1985 she earned
her LPN degree from Essex Agricultural and Technical Institute.
Connie was
famous for her baking skills, was a prodigious knitter and loved to have
pets about the house. She and Bob wintered in Florida for many years,
golfed together, and traveled.
She is
survived by one daughter, Cynthia and her husband Dennis Quinn, and
eight sons, Robert and his wife Mary of Kentucky, Terrance and his wife
Brenda, Francis and his wife Kathy, Neil and his wife Nanci, all of
Ipswich, Matthew and his wife Teresa of Danvers, Daniel and his wife
Deborah of Boxford, Kevin and his wife Kathi also of Ipswich, and
Timothy of Florida. She is also survived by one brother O. Eric
Gronberg and his wife Anne of Chelmsford. In addition she is survived
by nineteen grandchildren, and eighteen great-grandchildren.
Her funeral
will be held 9 am Friday, June 8 from the Whittier-Porter Funeral Home,
6 High Street, Ipswich followed by the celebration of a Funeral Mass 10
am in Our Lady of Hope Church, Pineswamp Road, Ipswich. Family and
friends are respectfully welcomed. Visiting hours are Thursday 4 to 8
pm. Interment will be in the Cowles Memorial Cemetery, Ipswich. Memorial
contributions in her name may be made to the Ipswich Council on Aging,
25 Green Street, Ipswich, MA 01938.
