Judith F. Carr

Judith F. (Perkins) (Barr) Carr died peacefully on September 4, 2013 in Boxford. She was surrounded by family in her final days, as she was all her life, in the home where she had lived for 52 years. Judith was born June 9, 1926 in Danbury, CT to Joseph S. and Elizabeth N. (Spofford) Perkins. She grew up in Salem, MA, graduating from Salem High School in 1944. She began her lifelong career as a registered nurse when she graduated from the Faulkner Hospital School of Nursing in 1947. While raising five children, she resided in Marblehead and Topsfield, before settling in 1961 in the Boxford house, which has been in her family for more than a century. She worked in several North Shore hospitals, and in 1968 became a school nurse at Masconomet Regional Junior/Senior High School, where she remained until her retirement in 1985. A lifelong believer in community service, Judith was an active member at Trinity Episcopal Church, a school and scouting volunteer, a twenty-plus year Director on the Board of Northern Essex Elder Transport, a driver for Meals on Wheels, a member of the Boxford Council on Aging, a commissioner of the Boxford Trust Funds, and a member and chair of the Boxford Board of Health. In 1997, she was honored by the West Boxford Grange with their Community Citizen Award, and in 2004 she received the Town of Boxford Moderators Award for Outstanding Community Service at the annual town meeting. She participated for more than 35 years in the Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Womens Hospital Nurses Health Study. Judith had a sincere sense of place, insuring that her familys land legacy was protected when she and her siblings facilitated the transfer of the parcel now known as Perkins Wood to the Boxford Trail Association/Boxford Open Land Trust in 2001. Most im- portant to Judith was her family. She made her home in Boxford the gathering spot for virtually all occasions and was most happy when the house was full of family. Judith leaves Clyde R. Carr, her husband of 34 years; five children, including sons David Barr and his wife Anne of Stratham, NH, and Andrew Barr and his wife Nancy of Wilmington, and daughters Harriet DeMark and her husband Richard of Meredith, NH, Suzanne Barr of Hampstead, NH, and Polly McKenna and her husband Charles of Chelmsford; fifteen grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren; a brother Joseph Perkins Jr. of Danvers, and sisters Deborah Bouranis of Ipswich, and Anne Derosier of Kissimmee, Florida; and many nieces, nephews and cousins. She also leaves her stepdaughters Ann Standley and her husband Wayne, Sr. of South Lowell, Betty Gibson and her husband Robert of Wakefield, NH, and Rhoda Connolly and her husband Edward, Jr. of Amesbury, eight step grandchildren and eleven step great-grandchildren. A memorial celebration of Judiths life was held at 2:00 pm on Monday, September 16, 2013 at Trinity Episcopal Church, Topsfield, MA. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the Boxford Council on Aging; Hospice of the North Shore; Elder Services of the Merrimack Valley. Assisting the family with the arrnagements is the Peterson-O'Donnell Funeral Home, 167 Maple St., (Rte 62) Danvers. To share a memory or offer a condolence, please visit www.odonnellfuneral service.com.