PRISCILLA TAFT ALVORD

1936 - 2020

October 24, 2020

Priscilla Taft Alvord passed away peacefully at her home in Lyme, NH, on September 13th, 2020.  She was surrounded by many of her “lovelies.”

Priscilla was born in Menden, Massachusetts, to Lois and George Kenneth Taft on September 9th, 1936. She grew up as one of nine siblings, in a tight knit family.  After moving with her family to Litchfield, Connecticut, at the age of fourteen, Priscilla began working at Joe’s Drugstore.   There, she worked behind the diner counter where she would eventually serve coffee to her future husband George C. Alvord.

Priscilla graduated from the Waterbury Hospital School of Nursing in 1957, and married George soon after.  Priscilla and George began to grow their family, welcoming four daughters and one son into their lives at Weatherwatch Farm.  Over the years, they also hosted many exchange students through AFS and the Litchfield Rotary Club.   The students came from all over the world, including Belgium, Australia, Sweden, and Mexico.  She and George opened their home to these and many others, making the “farm” a lively and loving place.  She was especially close to Winston and Cleveland Hudson.  “Mom and Dad A” shared many great times in Litchfield and at Squam Lake in NH. 

Priscilla worked as a volunteer for many years.  She became the first female Rotarian in Litchfield and later was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow for her contributions to the organization and her community.  At the First Congregational Church of Litchfield, she served as a communicant, deacon, and Sunday school teacher.  She was active in the Girls Scouts as a leader and was a perennial sight at the American Red Cross Blood Mobile.

After George’s passing in 1994, Priscilla devoted much of her time to her family, including her many grandchildren.  She fell in love again and married Richard A. Martens in 1997. They spent 22 years together between Litchfield, Squam Lake, and Cedar Key, FL, until they moved to West Lebanon, NH in 2015.  Dick, a self-described curmudgeon said that she was the only person he had ever met that was so truly generous and “completely without gile.”  

Richard’s death in 2019 was very hard on her.  That same year, Priscilla welcomed her great-grandson, Greyson, into the world, and declared that she would see his first birthday and one more summer at the lake.  She moved to Lyme, NH, where she lived with her daughter, Liz, and next door to her daughter, Ginny, her husband, and their three children. In August, she celebrated Greyson’s first birthday, and just after Labor Day, 2020, she returned from her last summer at Squam Lake.   

Priscilla was predeceased by her brothers, George, Don, and Bill, and her sisters, Dot and Joy. She is survived by three of her siblings, Dick, Hazel and Betty;  her children, Pat Studley, Liz Murray, George Alvord, Jr, Ginny Alvord and Abbie Alvord; her 11 beautiful grandchildren; and her great grandson, Greyson, who was the surprise and delight of her last year.

A small service was held at Trinity Church in Plymouth and a celebration of her life will be held in Spring of 2021.

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