On December 5, 2024, Martha Mitchell Crane Gruson, known by many as Twitch, set out on her final voyage from Bedford, Massachusetts. It was on a winter’s eve with steady headwinds at 14 knots, passing clouds and visibility for 10 miles. She is the last of her generation from Whitinsville, the end of an era.
Martha was a lifelong lover of boating who took any excuse to be out on the water, in the wind, surrounded by nature. But it was sailing around Cape Cod that truly captured her heart. For nearly 80 years, she sailed out of Gansett in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where her family had multiple homes. An accomplished sailor, Martha could navigate the challenging Woods Hole Passage under full sail without a motor as a back-up.
Her love of water was exhibited again when she chose her longtime residence in Concord, Massachusetts, along the banks of the ever-changing Concord-Sudbury River. Until their divorce in 1974, Martha and her late husband, Edward S. Gruson, raised their two children, the late Matthew Gruson, formerly married to Susan Caggiano, and Amy M. Lucarelli, married to Patrick Lucarelli and currently residing in Costa Rica.
The Concord home was an engaging place full of friends, family fun and memories for nearly 50 years. Martha enjoyed her growing family and created a beautiful home, welcoming her three grandchildren, Alex Gruson, now living in California with her husband Alex Eisner, Sarah Forosanai, now living in Maine with her husband Skye Forosanai and their son Fjorin, and Brendan Galvin, now living in New York with his partner Kelsey Evans and their daughters Sophie and Sydney.
Martha was born in Washington DC on March 24, 1930, the youngest of three children. She was predeceased by William Crane and Lois Wells. As the daughter of Brigadier-General William Carey Crane and his wife Lois W. Crane, Martha found herself living with her family in Japan in 1933–37 when her father was assigned to the position of Military Attaché. Both of Martha’s parents were proficient in Japanese and her mother kept extensive records and journals of that time. When asked about her favorite memory living in Japan, Martha gleefully shared, “Oh, skating between Mother and the Japanese princess, each holding one of my hands.”
It was Martha’s love of nature that helped her choose her career. When so many women were attending college to find a husband, Martha cut her hair short and applied herself to her studies at Medeira School in McLean, Virginia, then Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, eventually earning her graduate degree in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Her artistic eye, paired with her desire for architecture to work in harmony with natural topography and living flora and fauna, set the tone for her main achievements in Landscape Architecture. A modernist at heart, she celebrated the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and took inspiration from his balance of structure and form, always using the natural surroundings as the starting and ending points A few of her favorite projects can still be enjoyed today: the Quadrangle at the Marine Biological Laboratory and the Waterfront Park stand as living reminders of Martha’s contributions to village life in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Martha chartered many courses on the water, on land, and in the arts. She was proficient in playing the recorder and flute. But it was after hearing an early Renaissance concert in Cambridge that she fell in love with the viola da gamba and dedicated herself to creating its magical sound. She practiced faithfully for decades, attended classes, workshops, made some recordings and played with the same small group of ladies every week for over forty years. When she wasn’t practicing her viola da gamba, Martha was often teaching herself about those delightful, feathered creatures, birds, or planning her next major trip to some new part of the world. Her love of nature and the arts took her all over the world. Whether she was riding horseback out west, exploring temples in Japan, birding in Patagonia and Costa Rica, on safari in Kenya, taking in the arts in Italy, or exploring the Galapagos, to name a few of the places she visited, she excelled at following her own curiosity and at allowing her passions to flourish.
Over the last two decades, during various adventures, Martha would comment about whether a particular adventure would be the cause of her demise. For instance, six years ago, while kayaking with the family down Juniper Springs in Ocala National Forrest in Florida, the group rounded a bend only to end up 10’ from a 12-foot, strapping alligator. Martha turned to her son-in-law Pat and said with a raised brow and deep certainty of tone, “I always knew I was going to go this way.” Well, she didn’t. Instead, she passed peacefully in her bed. Maybe it’s easier to let go when you’ve lived a full life, filled with hobbies, adventures, music, great friends, interests, creative work and a loving family. Or maybe it’s the belief that you will be reconnected with loved ones that have passed before you. Either way, Martha died as she lived: with grace and dignity. "Onward, with fairer skies and full sails."
Family and friends will gather to honor and remember Martha on Saturday, March 22, 2025, at 10:00 am at the First Parish in Bedford, 75 Great Road, Bedford, MA 01730
Visits: 463
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors