Helen Hope Williams
Wigglesworth, whose personal charm, coupled with professional and
community endeavors were renowned from Ipswich to Boston, died at
Beverly Hospital on May 5, 2017 after a short illness. She was
surrounded by her four children and Rev. Brad Clark of Ascension
Memorial Church in Ipswich. She had celebrated her 90th birthday in
October.
“Hope was a very
special person,” said Rev. Clark this week. “She was bright and
articulate. But most of all, she knew how to be a gracious host to
everyone she met.”
A long time friend,
Harvard College Dean of Freshmen, Tom Dingman, described Hope as a
“giant—a woman of great strength and wisdom.”
Mrs. Wigglesworth’s
relationship to the community of Ipswich was very important to her.
Recently, when Hope was recovering from a knee operation, daughter
Henrietta went to the post office to pick up her mail. Henrietta
said the postal worker offered good wishes for Hope and then added,”
If she ran for town selectman, she would win all three seats.”
Hope was born in New
York City and attended school there. Her childhood summers were
spent in York, Maine. She graduated from Radcliffe College in
1948. In 1950, she married Dr. William C. Wigglesworth and in 1951,
they moved to Ipswich, where he was the general surgeon at Cable
Memorial Hospital and community physician.
The couple had four
children. “Growing up, she was always there for us,” recalled her
son John, “but even then, her devotion to her community was quite
clear.” The pattern of activism and community involvement that
characterized her life started in Ipswich and on the North Shore,
and then broadened to Cambridge and Boston.
Mrs. Wigglesworth
began her career as a language arts teacher and adviser at the Doyon
and Shatswell Schools in Ipswich, and then at Shore Country Day
School in Beverly.
First involved as a
Radcliffe alumna, she was asked to become Director of the Radcliffe
College Fund in the 1970s. She was promoted to Director of
Development and Alumnae Affairs in 1977. In 1979, Mrs. Wigglesworth
moved to Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital to become Director of
Development. She also was a member of the Radcliffe College Board
and helped to shape the integration between Radcliffe and Harvard.
Her last professional position was in the Office of Career Services
at Harvard University, where she was the pre-medical advisor, a
return to the close work with students that she had previously
enjoyed.
“I can’t think of
anything more rewarding than involvement with young people,” wrote
Mrs. Wigglesworth.
At Harvard’s
Commencement in 1998, Mrs. Wigglesworth was awarded the Harvard
Medal, which is annually given to individuals for “extraordinary
service to Harvard University.”
Mrs. Wigglesworth’s
work in community causes and fundraising went well beyond her
professional years. As a volunteer, she led fundraising efforts for
the Ipswich Library and, most recently as she approached 90 years
old, for the capital campaign of the Ipswich Museum.
Terry Stevens,
Director of the Museum, said, “Hope could work with people at all
levels, and she did everything with a smile.”
Mrs. Wigglesworth’s
faith in humanity and hope for its improvement led her well beyond
fundraising. “My mother had a cool head and a warm heart,” said her
son Andrew.
In 1997, she was
instrumental in the creation of the Ann Harvard Society, which helps
spouses of deceased Harvard alumni stay connected to the
University. In addition she also devoted her service to the
Trustees of Reservations, including serving as the first female
vice-president of the Standing Committee. She also served on the
Boards of Directors for the United Way of the North Shore and the
Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.
In Ipswich, Hope
served on the Vestry Committee of the Ascension Memorial Church and
as co-chair of the Discernment Committee, which selected the current
rector. She was a member of the Ipswich Democratic Committee, a
delegate to the Democratic State Convention, and regularly worked
the voting polls in Ipswich.
“We all want to be
able to contribute in some way,” Hope wrote,” and I think Ipswich is
a welcoming community for anyone who wants to get involved. It has
an all-encompassing warmth to it. I’ve come to the conclusion that
I can thank Ipswich for much of what I’ve done in my life and for
the many roads I have traveled.”
She had a reputation
for “gentle determination”, her children noted. Her son David
added, “Mom treated everybody she encountered with the same level of
respect and importance.”
Hope is survived by
her daughter Henrietta and husband Peter Lodge, and their children
John and Benjamin, of Patterson, NY; son John and wife Priscilla
Brooks, and their children Nick and Rosie, of Ipswich; son Andrew
and his wife Robin Lacey of Merion Station, PA, and his children
Haley, Caroline, and Harrison; and son David and wife Rayna Swanson,
and their children Kestrel and Talven, of Anchorage, AK.
A celebration of
Hope’s life will be held at Ascension Memorial Church, 31 in Ipswich
on June 24 at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her name
may be made to Ascension Memorial Church, 31 County St.,
Ipswich or to the Ipswich Museum, 54 S. Main St., Ipswich, MA
01938.
