Muriel C. Church, 98, of Towle Road, Chester died Sunday December 16, 2001 at the Elliot Hospital, Manchester. She was born in Medford, MA on September 24, 1903, a daughter of the late Frederick and Lillian (Clevenshire) Church. In 1914 at the age of 11, Miss Church moved to Spring Hill Farm on Towle Road in Chester with her parents. She attended the Chester School and graduated from Pinkerton Academy in 1922. She began attending Keene State Teachers College that same year and actually began teaching in Canterbury, NH before she had even graduated. Then, in just a few years, she returned to Keene full time to get her degree. She taught school in Canterbury, Hampton Falls, and New Ipswich, as well as teaching for 27 years in Chester, retiring in June of 1969.
Miss Church was the foster parent of three children, one boy and two girls, and became a foster grandparent of many. She has had many children and adults continue to visit her over the years, and so has been able to keep teaching, informally, all along. Due to her love of teaching, Chester Academy was dedicated in her honor when it opened two years ago. She taught generations of people and dedicated her life to Spring Hill Farm and the families and children of Chester.
She assisted her parents at Spring Hill Farm, assuming its management upon her father’s death, and she continued to operate the farm, with the help of Chester friends and neighbors, until her death. The two things she loved most were farming and teaching. A special treat for her recently was to have one of her baby pigs brought to a preschool classroom so the children could learn about pigs.
Miss Church was an active long-term member and officer of the Chester Grange, and was a member of the Neighborhood Club of Chester. She was also a member of the Chester Congregational-Baptist Church. She was also an avid horsewoman who was an active member of the three Trail Riders Associations, and she hosted many rides over the years on her property.
As one of her farm operations, she took children and adults out on hayrides and sleigh rides for many years, serving homemade refreshments to the groups as well. She enjoyed quilting sewing, weaving, and canning. One of her requests was to donate the Spring Hill Farm to the town of Chester, following her death.
She is survived by her loving cousins, Anne Sweet, Ray and Jane Janes, all of Connecticut, and their families.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, December 20th at 1:00 at the Chester Congregational-Baptist Church, Chester St., Chester, NH. The burial will follow in the Village Cemetery in Chester. Friends may call at the Peabody Funeral Homes and Crematorium, 15 Birch St., Derry on Wednesday, December 19th from 2 – 4 and 7 – 9. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Spring Hill Farm Trust, PO Box 275, Chester, NH 03036.