Cecilia Walsh Meras, 88, Was Enthusiastic Traveler

Cecilia Walsh Meras, 88, of Exeter, N.H. and East Chop, died in Exeter on Tuesday after a brief illness. She was the wife of the late Edmond A. Meras.

She was born in New York city Nov. 22, 1917, a daughter of the late Thomas Walsh and Josephine Driscoll Walsh. She was a graduate of Walton High School in the Bronx and had attended Hunter College before joining the staff of the Girl Scouts of America in New York city.

An enthusiastic traveler, she met Dr. Meras, a longtime teacher of French in New York and at Phillip's Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, while on a tour he was leading to Europe. They were married at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York in 1954.

Although Dr. Meras retired from Exeter in 1962, he continued his teaching career. The couple moved for a time to Lausanne, Switzerland; then to Manhattan, Kansas, where Dr. Meras was a visiting professor of French at Kansas State University; then to Middleburgh, Va., where he taught at the Foxcroft School. Mrs. Meras always responded enthusiastically to her new surroundings, though she remained - above all - a devoted New Yorker. Finally, at the age of 75, Dr. Meras retired and the Meras family returned to Exeter. City-lover that both she and Dr. Meras were, once settled down, they took advantage of Exeter's proximity to Boston to attend theatre there and to go dancing - favorite pastimes of both.

Dr. Meras's grandfather, Jean Baptiste Meras, also a professor of French, had come to the Vineyard in the 1890s to teach at the Martha's Vineyard Summer Institute and had built a house on Arlington avenue in the Highlands. There the Meras family - by then there were two sons - summered.

Among  the highlights of the Island for Mrs. Meras were visits to Mad Martha's on Circuit avenue for black raspberry ice cream cones, to Menemsha for lobster rolls. and to Humphreys Bakery for cookies and sourdough bread.

Mrs. Meras enjoyed a wide circle of friends at the East Chop Beach Club, and although in recent summers, her health had prevented her spending as much time there as she would have liked, she was often to be seen on the porch at Arlington avenue - watching and chatting with passersby walking up from the beach. Those who knew her always admired her strength of character and the  good spirit with which she coped with physical adversity. She was a devoted communicant of Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in Oak Bluffs.

At the Eventide Home in Exeter where she had lived in recent months, she had regaled her companions with stories of the Vineyard and was eagerly looking forward to another visit this summer.

Mrs. Meras is survived by her sons, Peter of Exeter and Christopher of Lakeville, and a stepdaughter, Phyllis Meras Cocroft of West Tisbury. She was predeceased by her stepson John E. Meras; she is also survived by her step granddaughters Leslie Hurd Tully and Michele (Chele) Reekie and six step great grandchildren, all of West Tisbury.

A funeral was held Thursday at St. Michael's Church in Exeter. Interment followed in Hawthorne, N.Y.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that contributions be made in her memory to the Eventide Home, 81 High street, Exeter, N.H. 03833.