Pearl Agnes Towle

Pearl Agnes (Parker) Towle was born on January 21, 1907 in Northfield, daughter of Frank C. and Luella (Potter) Parker. The Parker family had lived in Holden for many generations and moved back here when Pearl was two, after four years in Northfield. She died in the Jewish Healthcare Center in Worcester on Friday, November 28, 2008, at 101 years old.

She attended Holden schools graduating from Holden High School in 1924 and Wheaton College in 1928. She later took graduate courses at Harvard and Boston Universities. For four years she was a psychometrist at the Walter E. Fernald State School in Waverly before her marriage in 1932 to Berton Gifford Towle. She later was a part time secretary for the Superintendent of Schools in Holden and thereafter had a 27-year career as an Administrative Assistant and Financial Secretary for the Worcester County Ecumenical Council of Churches in Worcester.

Pearl was a life member of the Appalachian Mountain Club and its 4000 Footers, and the New England Hundred Highest Climbing lists. She was also a member of the Holden Historical Society, First Congregational Church of Holden, the Mass. Audubon Society, Friends of the Holden Council on Aging and its Senior Walkers.

She leaves her son, Parker A. Towle, M.D. and his wife Phyllis of Franconia, NH; four grandchildren, Peter G. of Orleans, VT, Daniel P. of Canton, CT, David B. of Portland, OR, and Elizabeth S. of Montpelier, VT; four great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. Two brothers and two sisters predeceased her.

A memorial service for Pearl will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, December 5th, in the First Congregational Church of Holden. Burial will be private in Grove Cemetery, Holden. Memorial gifts may be made to the First Congregational Church of Holden, 1180 Main Street, Holden, MA 01520; or the Appalachian Mountain Club, 5 Joy St., Boston, MA 02108. Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main St., Holden is directing arrangements.

www.milesfuneralhome.com