Catherine Detwiller

Catherine Detwiller

AGE: 100 • Westwood, MA

Catherine Detwiller (née Campbell), 100, of Westwood, MA died July 13 with her family by her side.

Mrs. Detwiller was born in Plainfield, NJ in 1916. She had a sister Dorothy C. Davis and a brother William H. Campbell, both deceased. In Watchung, NJ, her parents, William H. and Mabel R. Campbell, built her childhood home "Hillcrest" whose gardens (in the Smithsonian's Garden Club of America's collection) inspired her life-long interest in gardening. Her family moved to Plainfield where she went to Hartridge School and later attended Parson's School of Design. Later, she worked in the studio of noted couturier Muriel King.

In 1941 she married NJ architect Charles H. Detwiller, Jr. with whom she had four children: Charles H. Detwiller III (wife Carly Nichols) of Groton, Deborah D. (husband H. Ashley Smith, Jr.) of Lenox, Frederic C. (wife Ellen Moloney) of Georgetown and Laurie C. (husband David A. Sorensen) of Dover. A member of Crescent Avenue Church in Plainfield, NJ, she played in the bell choir and later became a member of the Village Church in Wellesley, MA. In the 1960s in Plainfield and Edison, NJ, she and her husband were involved in the merger of the Wardlaw-Hartridge Country Day School which they had both attended. Mrs. Detwiller also owned and operated her children's boutique "Carriage Trade" at the Stage House Village, restored by her husband Charles, in Scotch Plains, NJ.

A longtime member of the Plainfield Garden Club, she exhibited and won prizes for her floral arrangements at the local and International Garden Club shows in NY. At their home, "The Farm," on Clarke's Lane in Scotch Plains, she enjoyed country living with her family. She and her husband were active members of the Plainfield Country Club and both the Plainfield and Scotch Plains Historical Societies. Resident for a time at "Giggleswick" in Edison, NJ, she spent many happy summers at Cape Cod on Pilgrim Road in Harwichport and at Skinequit Pond in South Harwich, where she was a member of the Stone Horse Yacht Club and Wychmere Harbor Club. In 1993, Mrs. Detwiller became a resident of Fox Hill Village in Westwood, MA. Her lifelong interest in arts and crafts led to exhibits of her hand-crafted hooked rugs of her own design there and at the Wenham Museum.

She is survived by her 4 children, 7 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, many of whom she inspired with her artistic clothing designs, needlepoint, hooked rugs, doll houses, miniature rooms, and items knit for various charities. A memorial service will be held at the Wellesley Village Church at 11:00 on Thursday, July 21. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to charities of your choice.

Holden-Dunn-Lawler

www.hdlfuneralhome.net