Ferris Buck Urbanowski

- Ferris Buck Urbanowski, longtime resident of New Ipswich, died peacefully at her home in Vermont, March 29, after a brief illness. She was buried at the family home in a simple service, as she had requested. She was 78.

Ferris is well-known to many in the Peterborough area for her work as a psychotherapist and a meditation teacher. Her career in the healing professions spanned nearly 60 years.

An early student of the Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, she was among the first practitioners of mindfulness meditation in the US, working for years at the Center for Mindfulness, U. Mass Medical School with Jon Kabat-Zinn. She taught at many spiritual centers, universities and professional organizations here and abroad.

She first came to New Ipswich in the 1970s, and built a home off the grid at Wildcat Hill. One of her great joys was the wild and simple life there; she had a wide and deep relationship with the community and the land. In 2000 she moved to Vermont to be closer to her parents - Bob and Jean Buck. Following a series of tumors over the past decade which resulted in blindness, she continued to teach and meditate with friends and spend much of her time with family.

She is survived by her brother, Robert Buck of Waterbury, VT; daughters Alexandra and Tasha, their spouses John and Steve; and granddaughters, Beatrice and Millicent.

In lieu of gifts donations may be made to Mad River Valley Ambulance Service or Vermont Public Radio.