EDITH RICE BRISTOL

EDITH RICE BRISTOL - GOFFSTOWN, N.H. - Edith "Tink" Bristol died peacefully at home on May 15, 2013, one month short of her 96th birthday. She was born June 13, 1917, in Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of Anne (Holston) and Charles Macomber Rice. She attended Cleveland, Ohio, and Wisconsin schools, and graduated in 1939 from the University of Vermont, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. She was married to Robert Clark Bristol on Aug. 14, 1939. She and Bob attended UVM reunions for most of their 58 years together. They lived on a farm in Montpelier, where their two oldest children were born and attended a oneroom schoolhouse; they then moved to Burlington, where the last two children were born. In 1954, they moved to Goffstown, N.H., where they lived for the next 54 years. Edith was active in the Mother's Club, Congregational church, PTA and community service. She was an independent woman, strong as an oak, yet gentle as a willow when it came to flowers, birds, cats and dogs. The Bristol home was always an open door for friends of the Bristol clan, a bridge game, learning to drive, making maple sugar candy, ice skating together at the local rink, and lively discussions at the dinner table. "Tink" was a sharp bridge player who loved the game and played from college age into her 90's, along with her partners. Summers on Lake Champlain for 65 years, and annual family reunions there, were a magnificent highlight to her children's years growing up in New England. The summers drew extended family close, and four and five generations later, 75 strong, they still gather yearly. Edith was preceded in death by her husband in 1998, and is survived by three sons, Frederick (Barbara) of Burlington, James of Cambridge, Mass., and John (Susan) of Canton, Mass.; and daughter, Janice Ewing of Salt Lake City, Utah. She also leaves nine grandchildren, Michael (Michelle), David (Marta), Kristopher (Cassandra), Brandon (Kimberly), Benjamin and Jeremy Bristol, Kimberly (Matthew) Hodgson, Eric (Ilene) Ewing, and Lisa (Jon) Bevins; and 13 great-grandchildren. A celebration of Edith's life will be held at the Goffstown Congregational Church on Saturday, June 22, 2013, at 11 a.m. A reception will follow the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Congregational Church; or the Goffstown Humane Society.