Lois Hutchinson Surgenor

Lois Mary Hutchinson Surgenor, 96, died peacefully at Rivermead Retirement Community in Peterborough NH on December 19, 2021.

Lois was born in 1925 in Bridgeport, CT, the sixth child of Raymond and Jessie (Gillard) Hutchinson. She grew up in Bristol and Burlington CT and attended the University of Connecticut and the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, graduating in the fall of 1946 with her nursing degree.

Lois was married to Douglas MacNevin Surgenor for almost sixty five years until his death in 2011, and is survived by their five children, Peter (Newburgh NY), Sally Schnitzer (Concord MA), Jonathan (Phippsburg ME), Timothy (Dover MA) and Stephen (Meriden NH), their spouses, fifteen grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews and their families across the country.

Lois was full of gratitude. She had a strong faith and it sustained her. Wherever she lived, she made her family the center of her life, while making close friends, volunteering for her church and community, and caring for others. She was the heart of our family, and to her final days she cherished memories we made together in Wayland MA, Eden NY, Carlisle MA, and Peterborough NH as well as on the beaches of Rhode Island, Cape Cod and the coast of Maine.

A longtime member of the League of Women Voters, she was also a 4-H leader and a Trustee of the Parmenter Health Center in Wayland, MA. Having grown up in a farm community, Lois became interested in the preservation of farmland. While living in Eden, NY Lois worked with others advocating for the protection of Eden's rich farmland. Many years later she was thrilled to learn that land once owned by our family on Sandrock Road had been protected in perpetuity through the Western New York Land Conservancy.

While living in Carlisle MA, Lois served on several town committees, including the Conservation Commission, the Board of Appeals, and the household waste committee. With others, she worked tirelessly on the successful 1986 purchase of the Carlisle Cranberry Bog, comprising 151 acres where cranberries are still grown. She was named Carlisle's Honored Citizen in 1995.

In 1998, Douglas and Lois moved to the Rivermead Retirement Community in Peterborough NH where they made many friends and enjoyed the beauties of the Monadnock Region. As was true in every place that Lois lived, she knew where the trillium and lady slippers were found and grew daylilies by her back door.

She lived her life as she left it- with a lot of grace and in peace. The family is so grateful to the staff at Rivermead, for their professional care and true affection that sustained Lois, especially in her final days.

Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Lois on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 11:00 am in the Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden St., Concord. Burial was private in Green Cemetery, Carlisle, Massachusetts.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to:
RiverMead
150 Rivermead Road,
Peterborough NH 03458
(please designate "for the purpose of educating nurses")
www.rivermead.org
603-924-0062
or
Home Health Care Hospice & Community Services
312 Marlboro Street
Keene, NH 03431
603-352-2253
https://www.HCSservices.org

Arrangements under the care of Concord Funeral Home, 74 Belknap St., Concord, MA 01742 978-369-3388 To share a memory or offer a condolence visit: www.concordfuneral.com