Tag Archives: Northampton School for Girls

Margaret Clifton Shute ’32

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CliftonMargaret Clifton Shute, 99, a resident of Granite Farms Estates in Media and former resident of Swarthmore (1949-1989) passed away on January 8, 2013 at Crozer Chester Medical Center.

Margaret was born in 1913 at Methodist Episcopal Hospital, NY, NY. She was the daughter of Capt. Alfred Lee Clifton and Gladys Burgess Clifton. She was married in 1940 to the late Capt. Corben Clark Shute, USN, highly decorated veteran of WWII.

Mrs. Shute was a world traveler visiting 38 different countries during her lifetime. She was an active supporter and former Treasurer, Secretary, Chairman of volunteer services/blood programs and President of the Swarthmore branch of American Red Cross. She was also a member of Providence Garden Club from 1964 – 2008. In 1962 she was invited to Hoboken, Belgium to christen the launching of a large oil tanker, Atlantic Competitor, for Atlantic Refining Company.

After the death of her husband in 1988, Margaret moved to Granite Farms Estates. She served as President of Granite Farms Estates Residents Association from 1995 – 1997. At Granite Farms Estates she made many dear friends, played bridge and hosted many parties and celebrations. She will be remembered as “The Hostess with the Mostest”, and for her wonderful flair for humor and a talent for leadership.

Posted in: 1930s

Frances Rousmaniere Storrs ’31

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Frances R StorrsFrances Rousmaniere Storrs of Oyster Bay, New York died April 22, 2013 peacefully at home at the remarkable age of 100.

Her charitable life began in 1929 at the age of 16, when she worked for the summer in Hyden, Kentucky, where her mother’s family had funded the Frontier Nursing Service three-room hospital, and rode horses through the back hills to help provide medical care. For the rest of her life, she devoted much of her energy to helping others through a multitude of charities, including Planned Parenthood, Visiting Nurse Services, the Oyster Bay-East Norwich Boys and Girls Club, the Oyster Bay Waterfront Center, Friends of the Bay and many others.

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Posted in: 1930s

Carol Somerville Cory ’42

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Carol Somerville Cory ’42 passed away peacefully on July 1, 2013. She was 89 years old. Carol was born on December 25, 1923, in Evanston, Illinois, to John and Corinne Patton Somerville. The day she was born, the nurses at the hospital went to her mother’s room with lit candles. Seeing the candles, her mother thought, “I must be in Heaven.” The nurses were there to sing Christmas carols. Carol was named because of that special event.

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Posted in: 1940s, Class of 1942

Bethia Smith Currie ’39

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Dr. Bethia S. Currie died peacefully at the Sharon Health Care Center on July 3, 2013, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She was born in Meriden, Conn., in 1922, but had lived in Cornwall since 1955.

She attended Northampton School for Girls and Vassar College, graduating cum laude in 1943 with a degree in English literature. She taught briefly at Pratt Institute in New York City before marrying and starting a family. In the 1960s she attended the New School for Social Research, studying philosophy and political science. She obtained a masters in philosophy in 1970 and her doctorate in 1971 and served as a graduate assistant teacher. She went on to teach philosophy and comparative religion at the University of Connecticut in Torrington as an assistant professor until her retirement in the mid 1980s.

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Posted in: 1930s, Class of 1939

Antonia Deane-Jones Cleton ’43

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Antonia “Toni” Deane-Jones Cleton, Northampton School for Girls Class of 1943 died on June 7, 2013 after a long illness and had been cared for at home in Leiden, The Netherlands.

She and her younger sister, Diana,came over from Oxford England during World War II at the age of 14 to live with the family of Barbara Moog Finlay ’45 in Northampton and some of the time with the Wilcox family of New Canaan, CT. She loved Northampton School for Girls with a passion and was asked to be a boarder there after a few months. She was a good leader, a wonderful athlete and excellent student. After graduating from Northampton School, she attended Connecticut College for Women. The girls both returned to England before Toni’s 4 years at Connecticut College were completed. She went to occupational therapy school there and had a good career, which she pursued in Holland. While in Holland, she met and married Frans Cleton, MD in Leiden. They have 4 children, most of whom have settled in the area.

Posted in: 1940s, Class of 1943