Obituary of Martha Davis Soper

Martha Davis Soper, 94, of Old Saybrook, a woman with great spirit and heart, passed away at home on January 19th with her family and her dog Daisy by her side. She leaves behind Jack, her husband of 46 years. Her long life was full of family, friends, and activities, all done with a twinkle in her eye and a love for laughter. Daughter of Edith Brainard and J.H.K. Davis she grew up on Woodside Circle in Hartford with one sister (Jill Taylor) and four brothers (Jack, Leverett, Kelso and Newton), all of whom she outlived. She attended Oxford School, Dobbs, Smith College and the University of Hartford. Martha, with her first husband Ged Parsons, raised four daughters in New Britain. In 1970 she married Jack Soper and they lived in Farmington and Old Saybrook. The one constant was her presence in Fenwick, her beloved summer community where she rode horses and learned to swim, sail, and play golf and tennis. She carried on the tradition given her by her father of hiring the ministers at St. Mary's By-the- Sea for many years. Never one to sit still, she was a girl scout leader, a librarian at Mooreland Hill School and Old Saybrook's first Archivist as well as an active member of the Connecticut Valley Garden Club and the Colonial Dames. She valued her bridge and golf friends, scrabble games, crosswords and her letter writing. Also important in her life were her dogs and the backyard birds which she fed and cared for when injured. Her wonderful spirit will live on in her children: Sallie Boody (Robert), Edie Gengras (Skip), Marfie Lavendier (Joe); her grandchildren Chip (Ashley), Jonathan (Robyn), Ged (Caitlin), Ethan (Amelia), Cyrus, and Sam; and her great grandchildren: Julia, Emmy, Clayt, Ged, Mary, Katherine and Ember. She leaves her sister-in-law Elsie Parsons. She was predeceased by her beloved youngest daughter, Julia Parsons (Mark) and her brother-in- Law and God-son, Harris Parsons. The family would like to thank Marta, Vashti and Carol, Middlesex Hospice and the many caregivers who supported her life during the last four years. A Memorial Service will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church, on the corner of Main and Cross Streets in Essex on January 26th at 2:00PM. In lieu of flowers memorial donations may be made to the Stevenson Archives, Old Saybrook Historical Society, P.O. Box 4, Old Saybrook, CT. 06475 or The National Society of the Colonial Dames, 211 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT. 06109. To share a memory of Martha or send a condolence to her family please visit www.rwwfh.com Arrangements by the Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home in Centerbrook.