Rose Weld Baldwin died peacefully in her own house on Bourne Point, in Wareham, Massachusetts, on March 6, 2013. She was 95 years old and lucid up to her last day.
Rose was born on August 18, 1917, to Katharine Saltonstall and Philip Balch Weld, in Tuxedo Park, New York. The third of six siblings, she spent her early childhood in Dedham, Massachusetts. Her family summered at the Wareham estate of her grandfather, General Stephen Minot Weld, on Warren Point, overlooking Buzzards Bay. The family moved to New York City from Dedham when Rose was nine. She was educated at the Horace Mann School and the Brearley School before attending Milton Academy, graduating in 1935. In 1937 she married Ian Baldwin of Mount Kisco, New York.
Rose was the mother of four young sons when she began her professional life in 1952, first as librarian and then as an English teacher at the Harvey School, now in Katonah, New York. She was director of Harvey’s Lower School when she retired in 1973, the year she and her husband moved to Wareham for the remainder of their lives. In 2009 the Harvey School gave Rose its Distinguished Service Award for her many contributions to the school.
An avid gardener, sailor, and golfer, Rose played golf at the Kittansett Club for nearly eight decades and was a member for 52 years, winning tournaments until her 90th year and shooting a hole-in-one twice in her last years. In the 1970s she was twice elected to Wareham’s school board and for several decades was active in community service on behalf of the Church of the Good Shepherd.
Rosie (as she was known to friends) was energetic, large-hearted, good-humored, and much loved by a wide variety of people, young and old. She took an intense, empathic interest in the lives of many.
Her book-length memoir, Reminiscences, will be privately published this month.
She is survived by her younger sister Katharine Weld Bacon of Alexandria, Virginia; her four sons and their wives, Ian and Margo Preston Baldwin of South Strafford, Vermont; Michael and Margherita Bailey Baldwin of Marion, Massachusetts; Howard Lapsley and Karen Mulvihill Baldwin of Kennebunkport, Maine; and Philip Weld Baldwin and Monica Guggisberg of Paris, France; and by twelve grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews and their children and grandchildren.
There will be a memorial service on April 6 at 11 a.m. at Tabor Academy’s Wickenden Chapel, in Marion, Massachusetts.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made in her name to the Church of the Good Shepherd, P.O. Box 719, Wareham, MA 02571; Tobey Hospital, 43 High St., Wareham, MA 02571; or Planned Parenthood, 1055 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02215.
Arrangements by Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, Wareham. To leave a message of condolence, please visit: www.ccgfuneralhome.com