Grace Willoughby, 95, Was a Retired Teacher

Grace Willoughby, 95, of Fairhaven, formerly of Edgartown, died on April 2 at the Alden Court Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Fairhaven.

Born in Everett, a daughter of the late Walter I. Willoughby and the late Grace Newhall Willoughby, she had been a resident of Fairhaven for many years. Miss Willoughby taught at the Edgartown Elementary School for 20 years. She also taught in the Fairhaven Elementary School for 20 years after moving to that city in the late 1940s.

From her birth until 1924, she spent her summers at the family home at Green Hollow in Edgartown. In 1924, the family moved permanently to Edgartown and Miss Willoughby was graduated from Edgartown High School in 1925. She received her teaching degree from Hyannis Normal School in 1927 and began her teaching career.

For many summers, she was a ticket collector at the Edgartown Bathing Beach, the predecessor of the Chappaquiddick Beach Club. She was active in the Edgartown United Methodist Church for many years and a devoted member of the Centre United Methodist Church in Fairhaven after settling there.

Miss Willoughby served on the board of directors of the Visiting Nurse Association in Fairhaven, was a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and an honorary member of the Fairhaven Colonial Club.

She is survived by two nephews, David E. Willoughby of Westford and John A. Willoughby Jr. of Suffield, Conn.; two nieces, Elizabeth Fitzsimmons of Shoreham, Vt., and Bebe Willoughby Slappey of Alexandria, Va.; and several grandnieces and grandnephews. She was the sister of the late Edward Newhall Willoughby, Everett Sawyer Willoughby and John Alva Willoughby and the aunt of the late Ursula Willoughby DiRuggiero.

A funeral service were held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, in the Fairlawn Home of Sullivan-Waring, 180 Washington street, Fairhaven. A graveside service was held on Sunday, April 7, at the West Side Cemetery in Edgartown.

Memorial contributions may be sent to the Centre United Methodist Church, 46 Centre street, Fairhaven, MA 02719 or to the Edgartown United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 1754, Edgartown, MA 002539.