Martha Anne Palfrey

PALFREY, Martha Anne (Macdonald) Of Duxbury died at home on September 6, 2010 at the age of 84 after a brief illness. She was the daughter of the late Maxwell E. Macdonald, MD and Sylvia Lovejoy Macdonald. A resident of Duxbury since 1934, she met her husband George there in 1936 and grew up sailing and racing with him at the Duxbury Yacht Club. Martha and George were married in 1951. They enjoyed a wonderful marriage for the next 57 years until George's passing in 2008. A graduate of The Winsor School in Boston, she entered Bryn Mawr College at age 16, graduating at age 19. She was featured in Parade Magazine as the first international disc jockey on Boston's Short Wave Radio Station WRUL, broadcasting to various European, Latin and Middle Eastern countries. She later went on to work as a French interpreter for international textile machine companies. She was the first woman to be elected to the Duxbury School Committee, where she served for three terms, and went on to earn a Master's Degree in Guidance from Bridgewater State College. She worked as a Guidance Counselor in the Duxbury school system for 23 years. Martha earned her pilots license at age 21 and was an avid sailor and skier throughout her life. She was a member of the Duxbury Garden Club and the local Republican Committee, and was a Recreation Department Director and teacher at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church. She served for more than 25 years on the board of the Trustees of the Partridge Academy in Duxbury, which provides local scholarship funds for deserving Duxbury High School graduates. Martha and George enjoyed an exciting retirement sailing and traveling extensively. They wintered in Tarpon Springs, FL where they volunteered with special needs and disabled adults. They also were very active with Habitat for Humanity and the Tarpon Springs Unitarian Universalist Church. They continued to summer in Duxbury and at their Saquish beach cottage, the "Muffin Tin", overlooking Duxbury Bay. She leaves two sons, John, his wife Debbie and their three children, Chris, Emily and Hannah of Duxbury and Peter, his wife Barbara and their two children, Alex and Sarah, also of Duxbury. She is also survived by her sister, Dr. Constance Macdonald of Port Ludlow, WA., who with Cranberry Hospice, provided much loving care in her final days. Martha was predeceased by her beloved husband George in 2008, daughter Ellen in 2003 and sister Janice Macdonald Doyle in 1997. A memorial service will be held on September 19 at 3pm at the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church on Tremont Street in Duxbury, MA. In lieu of flowers, tax deductible donations may be made in Martha's name to "The Partridge Fund", P.O. Box 2552, Duxbury, MA, 02331.