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ISABEL BEECHER HOOKER

1925 - 2024

BORN

1925

DIED

2024

FUNERAL HOME

George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home - Wellesley

477 Washington Street

Wellesley, Massachusetts

ISABEL HOOKER Obituary

HOOKER, Isabel Beecher Died unexpectedly on April 11, 2024, four days short of her 99th birthday at Fox Hill in Westwood, MA. She was born in Hartford, CT in 1925, a direct descendant of Thomas Hooker and Isabella Beecher Hooker. She attended the Oxford School, Chatham Hall, Bennet Junior College and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School, before beginning her working life in Boston at Houghton Mifflin and the Bank of New England. This meant forging her own way after growing up in Hartford. She was a member of the National Society of the Colonial Dames and became an avid volunteer in her retirement. Martha's Vineyard was a treasured part of her life, starting at the age of four when she went there for the first time in 1929; the only two years of her life that she missed going to the island were during World War II and Covid. She was a lifelong member of the Edgartown Golf Club and was never known for slow play, even into her 80s. Isabel is survived by and will be greatly missed by her younger sister, Mary Hooker Crary of Hartford, CT; her nephew, Joseph N. Crary of Prospect Harbor, ME; her niece, Margaret Hooker Crary of East Hampton, NY and their spouses Hilly Crary and Peter Milholland. She was predeceased by her great-niece, Margot Willis Crary, in 2016. She made many new friends later in life at Fox Hill who will miss her at the dinner and bridge tables and on trips to the Boston Symphony. A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday, May 30, at 1:00 p.m., in the chapel of the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church, 207 Washington St., Wellesley, MA. A Reception will follow at the Fox Hill retirement community in Westwood, MA. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Wellesley Congregational Church or the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. Online guestbook at gfdoherty.com. George F. Doherty & Sons Wellesley 781-235-4100

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Published by Boston Globe from Apr. 26 to Apr. 28, 2024.

Memories and Condolences
for ISABEL HOOKER

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4 Entries

Kathryn O'Leary Shilale

April 20, 2025

Hoping Isabel and my mother are celebrating Easter this year together in heaven. Thoughts and prayers.

Kat, Alec and Sabrina Holliday

May 30, 2024

Isabel was beloved to our family, including being a dear friend of our late matriarch, Carol Holliday. She became a dear friend to all of us. We spent many holidays at Fox Hill with Isabel and she even joined us for several outside of Fox Hill. She always brought a smile and optimistic view of the world. She did not dwell on the ailments of getting older but focused on what she could do still, such as attend her nights at the Symphony. On Easter, she arrived with a bunny card for my daughter which we now treasure on our mantlepiece. She had the natural instincts of a grandmother and encouraged our 12 year-old on her piano and with whatever was going on at school. Isabel was engaged with the world to the very end and we were so sad that we didn't get to celebrate her tax-day birthday with her. No one should make the mistake of discounting the impact a single woman can have on the world. There is everything to admire about an independent woman who treasured her connections to her sister and all of her family, as well as her chosen friends. May her memory be eternal.

Martha and George Snelling

May 29, 2024

We are sadden by the news. Isabel was our dear neighbor and friend for several years in S. Natick. We were active together on our HOA board. Never a dull moment at our board mtgs. with Isabel. We shared our love for the vineyard, bridge games and golf in stories, etc as she always said to move things along. She was a bold, smart and funny woman. Our sympathy to her family.

Lucia Holliday

April 28, 2024

Isabel was a dear and treasured friend and neighbor of my mother's at Fox Hill. Isabel had an upbeat optimism that was something to aspire to by the rest of us! It was a great good fortune that I got to know her.

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Memorial Events
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May

30

Memorial service

1:00 p.m.

chapel of the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church

207 Washington St, Wellesley, MA

Funeral services provided by:

George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home - Wellesley

477 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA 02482

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