Martha Prouty DeNormandie

Martha Boyd Prouty DeNormandie, 87, died peacefully on Februay 25, 2010, at home. She was surrounded by her family, grandchildren, dogs, cats and the snow covered fields and beautiful trees of her beloved hilltop at 65 Trapelo Road in Lincoln. Martha was the wife of the late Senator James DeNormandie who died in 1987. Her son Newton Prouty DeNormandie died in 1969.

Martha was born at home in Spencer, MA on May 14, 1922, the daughter of Charles Newton and Claire Kane Prouty. She was the fifth of six children- Charles, David, Richardson, Lothrop and Marion. She attended the Bancroft School in Worcester, MA and Wheelock College in Boston.

Martha Prouty came to Lincoln in the summer of 1943 as a nanny for the young children of Oliver and Alice DeNormandie Cope plus 2 young English boys cared for by the Copes during World War II. It was during that summer that she met Jim, a confirmed bachelor and local farmer. It didn’t take long for him to ”sweep her off her feet” and in October 1943 at the age of 21, they married and moved into the farmhouse on Trapelo Road surrounded by Guernsey cattle, milking machines, the pond and beautiful fields. Seven children followed – Robert, Alice, Philip, Newton, Tom, and twins Vicky and Kate.

Martha lived a full and generous life always seeking connection and conversation with family, friends, political supporters, young people, old people whatever their situation or position in life. She was a person who always extended her hand to newcomers and made them feel welcome. She participated fully in the life of the First Parish Church of Lincoln and its many committees. Similarly, within Lincoln town affairs, she was a member of the Lincoln Cemetery Commission and the Lincoln Library Board of Trustees for many years. She also was an active supporter of METCO families in Lincoln, a tutor at Columbia Point, and board member of Farrington Memorial, North End Union, The First Church of Roxbury. She gave freely of her time, energy, and creativity, always guided by her sense of justice, love of community as well as her culinary skills. Martha’s Company Casserole was a specialty for soup kitchens, church suppers and her family!

Martha cared deeply about bringing people together in community and was pleased that the town’s Thanksgiving Day Square Dance has been taken up by a new generation and continues to be a community event anticipated by so many. She loved working with Lincoln’s DPW workers to keep the cemeteries well maintained and always had time and showed sensitivity for families choosing a cemetery plot. She advocated for affordable housing long before the state mandated it and fought hard to get overhead wires put underground near the Library. While some of her efforts were not successful, Martha never seemed to get discouraged or stop trying to make a difference. Her warmth and can do attitude carried her far and wide.

Martha was also the quintessential political wife – working tirelessly on Jim’s political campaigns for State Representative and later for State Senate. Her friendly manner and willingness to do whatever was needed made all the difference …and he won. Politics is a family affair and in a Lincoln Fourth of July parade soon after Vic and Kate were born, the float captured a campaign theme “Twin up with us, put Daddy in the Senate”.

During her later years, the direct and extended family, her children and their spouses “the outlaws”, and her grandchildren visited often and provided her with endless satisfaction and pride. She loved to hear what everyone was up to, their special projects, their work. Often she would go to her beloved Cataumet on Cape Cod for respite and quiet reflection and a dip in the waters of Red Brook Harbor. Her curiosity and love of new ideas never waned and she continued, right up to her death, to listen to visitors tell her about what was going on in the world. While she may not have been able to converse, she kept an eye on us all and her occasional chuckles made us realize she was aware of much more that we might have thought. She watched her granddaughters ride their horses across the fields and so loved seeing children and families screaming with excitement as they flew down DeNormandie Hill on their sleds.

Family and friends will miss Martha’s friendly smile, warm handshake, her simple respect for everyone and her acceptance for where they were in life. We know today she is on that rising road, with the wind at her back and the sun on her check, passing through the green fields that have surrounded her for over 67 years here in Lincoln. God speed.

Martha DeNormandie is survived by her 6 children and their spouses, Robert and Eliana, Alice and Surendra Shah, Philip and Tina, Tom and Penny, Kate and Kevin McCarey and Vic and Carl LoChiatto; 14 grandchildren – Laura (Greg), James (Natalie), Rajen, Serena, Philip, Jack, Sam, Cole, Katherine, Elizabeth, Hannah, Caitlin, Fiona, James; two great grandchildren, Law and Celia. She will also be deeply missed by her many nieces and nephews.

MEMORIAL SERVICE
Sunday - March 14, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
The First Parish in Lincoln
14 Bedford Street
Lincoln, MA 01773
781-259-8118
www.firstparishinlincoln.org

GIFTS IN HER NAME MAY BE MADE TO:
The First Parish in Lincoln
14 Bedford Street
Lincoln, MA 01773

Arrangements under the care of Glenn D. Burlamachi
Concord Funeral Home
74 Belknap Street
Concord, MA 01742
978/369-3388

Proud to be family owned, operated and occupied since 1936