Marietta Louise (Larney) Seacord, 92, a resident of Medway for 58 years, died peacefully at Carlyle House Nursing Home in Framingham on March 28, 2013.
Born on November 27, 1920 in Philadelphia PA, Marietta was the daughter of Raymond Henry Larney and Marguerite (Gallagher) Larney who had met and married in Allentown PA. Both were first-generation children of Irish emigrants. Growing up in New York City where her father was a trust banker with National City Bank and her mother a publishing executive with Grade School Teacher Magazine, Marietta and her sister, Elizabeth then moved with the family to Darien, Connecticut. She met her high school sweetheart, Daniel Seacord in Darien, followed him to Northern New England when he attended Dartmouth College and she, the University of Vermont and then came back to New York to attend Columbia University while he served destroyer escort duty with the US Navy. With the outbreak of war, Dan and Marietta married on January 6, 1942 and she spent the war years as an active member of the Navy League in New York City.
After Dan returned from the Mediterranean Theater, the couple moved to Cambridge while he attended Radar School at MIT and their first daughter, Diana, was born. They then returned to Hanover NH so Dan could complete his Masters Degree in Physics at Dartmouth. That career path led Marietta along with her husband to Los Alamos, New Mexico where he worked on the hydrogen bomb project. Their second and third daughters, Stephanie and Michelle were born in Los Alamos where Marietta was involved with church and community volunteer work including the League of Women Voters and the American Association of University Women. In 1955 the family moved back to New England, settling in Medway. Fourth daughter, Elizabeth, was born in Milford in 1958. Daniel died on November 5, 1994.
During her long life in the Boston suburb of Medway, Marietta was a valued volunteer and organizational officer for both St. Joseph’s church and civic groups including Catholic Daughters, Sodality, the CFM Group, the parents’ Corps Club of the St. Joseph’s CYO Band, Color Guard and Drill Team, Medway Community Access Television and the emergency drug counseling “hot-line.” She and Dan were both a constant and appreciative audience for their daughters’ endeavors. In the mid-1970s, Marietta served as Assistant Librarian in the Medway High School Library and also put the expertise born of making clothes for herself and four daughters to work as an employee of The Fabric Place in Framingham. In retirement she volunteered in the library at St. Mary’s.
Marietta leaves her four daughters, Diana Seacord of Natick, Stephanie Seacord of Newfields NH, Michelle Seacord of Freeport ME and Elizabeth Seacord of Norton, a grandson, Daniel Ruff of Norton, two nephews, John and William Blackburn of Bedford PA; three nieces, Carolanne and Katherine of Bedford PA and Susan Elizabeth Blackburn of Batavia NY and their father, John Blackburn, Jr. of Bedford PA.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend her funeral Mass on Friday, April 5 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Holliston with burial following at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Medway. Calling hours are scheduled for Thursday, April 4 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Ginley Crowley Funeral Home 3 Barber Street in Medway (www.ginleyfuneralhomes.com).
In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to make a donation in Marietta’s name to the charity of their choice.