Page Webb

1928 - 2010

Page C. Webb
Page Chapman Webb, of 76 Teeter Road, Ithaca, passed away suddenly on Tuesday, August 31, 2010. Page, the beloved wife of Watt W. Webb, had reached an advanced but lively and charming time of her life, until suddenly passing out while enjoying her favorite hobby, watercolor painting at the Ithaca Lifelong Learning center in the company of her painter friends there. Born March 28, 1928 in Cleveland, OH to Helen and Hudson Chapman, she was raised, following the death of Helen, by her father and stepmother Mary Mutschler Chapman along with brother Samuel and stepsister Mary (Molly) Chapman. Her father had worked around the country to help establish some of the first social security offices during the depression years of the 1930s in the United States.
Page first met her husband Watt Wetmore Webb in 1945 while she was visiting a mutual friend in Cambridge, MA during her college years. She was attending Smith College in Northampton, MA while he studied at MIT in Boston. They spent their first afternoon together sailing on the Charles River, and the sport became their favored life-long leisure pursuit.
The couple met again in 1947 after Watt began his career in industrial research in Niagara Falls, NY. His research director's family knew Page and thought the two might enjoy rekindling ties and helped reintroduce the couple to each other. A few years later, on Thanksgiving Day in 1950, they married, to the delight of their families.
They returned to Boston when Watt began graduate study at MIT. Their first son Watt Wetmore Webb III was born there in August, 1954. When Hurricane Edna roared through Boston and removed neighboring roofs, Page and stepmother Mary together guarded the newborn while Watt Senior was rescuing MIT's sinking sailboat fleet.
In those early Cambridge years, Page had studied art – another passion – at Harvard University. In her 70's, she resumed painting in Ithaca and enjoyed it everywhere until the last minutes of her life.
After Watt's doctorate degree at MIT, they returned to Niagara Falls where Watt soon led the Fundamental Science Department at Union Carbide. Their twins, Bucknell Chapman Webb and Spahr Chapman Webb were born in December, 1956. Page often recalled her amusement as her doctors discussed the challenge of notifying the father of the birth of not one but two boys. Raising twins along with another young son was a major challenge – met successfully.
The family moved to Ithaca in 1961 when Watt joined the faculty of Applied Physics at Cornell University. He soon expanded into varied intellectually gratifying research, ultimately biomedical physics, always with his beloved wife's warm support and interest.
In Ithaca, they continued yacht racing as a husband and wife team in International Star Class sailboats. Despite being far underweight for that Olympic Star Class, they did well, winning silver chevrons in a stormy North American Championship that also earned Page a place as one of the few women elected to the Star Class International Honor Roll. As their sons grew, the Webbs turned to ocean racing as a family on the Great Lakes and later along the coasts of New England and Maine on a series of larger racing sailboats. They loved sailing and ocean racing together, especially with their sons Buck, Spahr and Watt III aboard.
With their sons grown, Watt and Page continued sailing together, joined oft-times by their sons, cruising mostly in Maine, despite its fog and lobster pot obstacles, and learning to handle their "Swan 44" yacht in virtually any weather, navigating as a husband and wife team even in dense fog with Page on the radar and GPS. But while cruising alone, they often enjoyed picking up beach mussels off rocks and blueberries from the wilderness hills for dinner to enjoy with lobsters and beautiful scenic views from their yacht, "Wavetrain." Page and Watt later double-anchored down through yet another major hurricane, anchored in a small harbor in Northern Maine in the early 1990's. They persisted in yacht racing through their 70s on Cayuga Lake, until the rigors of handling one more vicious wet thunderstorm convinced them that it was time to retire from sailing.
Throughout their sailing years, Page was the organizer and planner and her skill in making things happen was important in all their expeditions. Amongst their numerous satisfying travel ventures over the years were their early trips abroad, beginning with an alpine summer for Watt with Page on the Alps in Reutte-in-Tirol, Austria. Watt was sent there after his first graduate year back at MIT to update his Professor and his former employers with European science after the disruptions of the Second World War. Their adventures in the Tirol as well as an earlier year abroad for Page in Switzerland (while at Smith College) set the stage for Page's lifelong love of international travel, culture and adventure. Throughout life, Page and Watt made a habit of digressing from his research travel to visit numerous art museum and historic sites from Scandinavia, through Western Europe, Spain, Italy, England, Central America, Mexico, and most recently in Alaska and the Canadian west and east, missing only a few US states. They visited Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, including Hokkaido Island. Planned trips included China, inspired by Watt's many foreign collaborators and Page's interests in the arts worldwide. This spring, a cruise in the Galapagos Islands with the twins, Buck and Spahr, meant a chance for Page at age 82 to snorkel with marine iguanas, turtles and penguins.
Page is survived by her husband as well as her son Watt, her daughter-in-law Wendy and grandson Wiley, all of Malibu, CA; her twin sons Bucknell of Ossining, NY and Spahr of New York City; her sister Molly Chapman Speare of Providence, RI and Molly's two children, Philip Speare of Boston and his wife and children, and Laura Speare Feldman of San Francisco. She is also survived by the daughters, granddaughters and grandsons of her husband's sister Frances Webb Roosevelt: Anna Roosevelt, in Chicago; Alexandra Roosevelt Dworkin of Baltimore; Susan Roosevelt Weld, of Boston and Georgetown and Susan's children. This summer, Page was delighted to be able to visit and talk with some fifty descendants of Frances Blanch Webb and her husband Quentin Roosevelt at the wedding of Susan Roosevelt Weld's daughter, Mary.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Junior Year Abroad Program (Geneva), Smith College, 33 Elm Street, Northampton, MA 01061 in memory of Page Chapman Webb '49.
Page's charm and gentle creativity and thoughtfulness of others led to numerous friends and friendly acquaintances wherever she went and has thus attracted numerous bouquets, kind cards and letters of consolation for our loss, and declarations of appreciation of Page Chapman Webb. Her husband expresses here his appreciation and deep thanks to all of those who have honored her….