Obituary of Mary B. Reynolds

Mary Bartlett Reynolds of Topsham, Maine, died October 18 in Duxbury, Mass. She was born October 20, 1930, in Norwood, Massachusetts, the daughter of Sue Bartlett and the Rev. Robert Merrill Bartlett, and spent her childhood years in Longmeadow, Mass. and Lansing, Michigan. She attended the Walnut Hill School and was a graduate of Pine Manor Jr. College in Wellesley. Later she obtained a B.A. degree from Muskingum College and a M.F.A. from Yale University School of Drama. Music and acting were her great loves and she performed with fine choirs, chorales, and amateur theatrical groups throughout her life. After drama school and while living in New York she toured with the Maurice Evans’ production of George Bernard Shaw’s “The Apple Cart.” She played leading roles in many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, beginning in Cambridge with the Harvard University Gilbert and Sullivan Society, then with a professional company on the road, and at the Lincoln County Community Theatre in Damariscotta. Most recently she appeared as Queen Victoria in the Lincoln Theatre production of the “Pirates of Penzance.” She took part in numerous local television commercials and films. Mary was a member of the Tapestry Singers in Lincoln County, the Sheepscot Valley Chorus, and the Mills Girls, performing at women’s groups, nursing homes, and parties. She sang, too, with the St. Andrews Episcopal Church choir in Newcastle. She was fond of Appalachian folk music and excelled at the autoharp. She loved Noel Coward and Cole Porter songs, and the rest of the Great American Song Book. Mary traveled widely in Europe and was privileged to perform in concert with the Yale University Alumni Chorus in China, Russia, England, Argentina, Chile, and Cuba. She was an ardent gardener and flower lover. “Mary’s garden always seemed to me to be her poem to the world,” said one friend, “her way of painting, so to speak.” Her zest for life and joy, passion, and beauty were evident in all she did and to all who knew her. She had a profound affection for animals and children who naturally gravitated to her warm and loving spirit. Her home in Newcastle, where she lived from 1989 until her move to Topsham, bordered Damariscotta Lake where she swam every summer day the sun shone, and sometimes in the rain. Mary leaves a sister, Susan Bartlett Weber in Montpelier, Vermont; a brother, Robert Hill Bartlett, his wife Virginia and daughter Alexandra in Plymouth, Mass.; niece Sarah Garfield and Sarah’s children Alex, Nick, and Elise of Pittsford, New York; nephew Rob Bartlett, his wife Leata and children Kelsey Ruth and Jackson, all of Kyle, Texas; nephew Ben Weber and son Sam of Westford, Vermont. She also leaves two beloved California grandchildren, Romy Fidlon and Kim Wallace, along with Kim’s children, Taylor and Spencer Wallace. Mary’s husband, Thomas Hedley Reynolds, died in 2009. This coming summer the family plans a Maine celebration of Mary’s life for her local friends and neighbors. On November 19, 11 a.m., in Duxbury, Mass., where Mary had a second home, there will be a service at St. John the Evangelist Church on Washington Street. A reception will immediately follow. Causes Mary held dear and to which friends might wish to contribute in her memory include the Lincoln Country Community Theatre, the Damariscotta Lake Watershed Association/Midcoast Conservancy, and the Lincoln County Animal Shelter.